Labour’s plan to axe defence spending by £500m because the battle in Europe rages on is “crazy”, in accordance with certainly one of Britain’s main safety consultants and a gaggle of cross-party politicians.
Defence Secretary John Healey introduced yesterday that the brand new Labour Government was taking “common sense decisions” by slashing spending on Britain’s armed forces, blaming “the state of the finances” inherited from the Tories. Today, reviews emerged that Ukraine had used British Storm Shadow long-range missiles on Russian targets for the primary time. However, the Defence Secretary refused to verify within the Commons whether or not or not Kyiv had fired them.
The lowered finances will see six army tasks scrapped, together with the British Army’s Watchkeeper drone programme, the Royal Navy’s Landing Platform Docks, HMS Albion, HMS Bulwark, and HMS Northumberland. The RFA Wave Knight and RFA Wave Ruler tankers may also be thrown on the scrapheap, together with 14 RAF Chinook and 17 Puma helicopters.
Military commentator and chemical weapons skilled Hamish de Bretton-Gorden informed Express.co.uk the choice and its timing had been “f****** bonkers”.
“We’re as close as we’ve been to war with Russia since the Second World War [and] we announce a half billion cut in our conventional defence. It was the lack of conventional defence that encouraged Putin to invade Ukraine in the first place”, he mentioned.
“When he looked west on February 24 2022, he didn’t see a conventional defence. So I think number one is that [cutting defence] is crazy.
“When Putin is considering whether or not to press the nuclear button, he all of the sudden sees Britain sinking all its ships and crashing all its helicopters – I imply, it’s unbelievable”, the former British Army officer told this website.
He added that the timing of the decision gave the Kremlin the all-clear to “crack on” and win the war in Ukraine.
Mr de Bretton-Gordon added that failure to prevent a Russian victory may mean British soldiers are drawn into fighting soon. This echos the thoughts of ex-Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who in February predicted the UK would be at war by at least 2030.
“If Russia prevails, the younger women and men of this nation will likely be preventing in Europe within the subsequent 12 months or so,” Mr de Bretton-Gordon said. “So we ought to be doing completely every little thing in our energy to stop that taking place, and primary is having a reputable typical defence. It looks like a self-inflicted wound to me.”
The military expert’s thoughts were shared by former Tory MPs and the deputy leader of Reform, Richard Tice.
Mr Tice told the Express that the timing of the move was “very unwise”. The MP for Boston and Skegness added that the UK should be “aiming to point out energy in opposition to Russia and dedication to defence.”
Likewise, former shadow business secretary and MP for Wokingham Sir John Redwood labelled John Healey’s decision “completely incorrect”.
“We must maximise our capabilities in order that they’re a correct deterrent… I can’t imagine that they might do that on the similar time when they’re most likely permitting our weapons for use by Ukraine in a brand new method.”
Tobias Ellwood, the ex-MP for Bournemouth East, a former Lt Col, and the former head of the UK Defence Select Committee, was cooler in his criticism, noting that some of the hardware being scrapped was “defective” and “historic.”
“The problem is getting the replacements in,” he said. For a couple of decades, we’ve been too slow in upgrading, and now that the storms of war are approaching again, [we] must expedite getting the replacements to the front line.
“The one determination I do imagine wants reviewing is writing off our touchdown platforms [HMS Bulwark and HMS Albion]. They simply would possibly show helpful before we predict.”
https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1978945/labour-defence-cuts-500m-war-russia