ANOTHER £20 billion a year must be fired into the UK defence budget to meet the resurgent threat from Russia, MPs say.
Westminster’s Defence Committee says a new deal providing extra funds is the “only solution” to resurgent threats from Moscow, terrorism, cyber-attacks and the erosion of the rules-based international order.
The report comes weeks ahead of the expected release of high-level findings from the Ministry of Defence’s Modernising Defence Programme (MDP).
Scottish Economy Secretary Keith Brown, a former Royal Marines commando, says its findings have serious implications for defence industries and military communities.
Julian Lewis, chair of the Defence Committee, said: “Defence is constantly described as the first duty of government. The MDP is the government’s opportunity to show that it means what it says.”
The £20bn sum represents a rise from two per cent to three per cent of total GDP, around mid-1990s levels.
The report congratulated Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson for extracting military spending from the remit of the government’s National Security Capability Review. It said the “bold step” should allow ministers to deliver “the force structure necessary to meet strategic objectives rather than one that merely fits within straitened financial parameters”.
Warning of “serious deficiencies” in stocks of armour, armoured vehicles and artillery – said to put the army at “serious risk of being outgunned by its Russian counterpart” – it warned that forces should be backed by a financial settlement which is “not reliant on loose projections and unrealistic so-called efficiency targets”.
A minimum of 82,000 personnel is recommended, along with the creation of a Royal Navy carrier group able to protect the new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers without depending on other states, and a layered air defence system to protect the war-fighting division.
Lewis said the moves would help “meet new threats and fill existing financial ‘black holes’”.
Brown commented: “Scotland has previously suffered brutal cuts to both military personnel and bases, with a further eight defence sites due for closure under MOD’s ill-conceived basing plans.
“I have repeatedly called on the Secretary of State for Defence to ensure that the on-going Modernising Defence Programme will not result in further cuts in Scotland and that previous promises to base 12,500 regular Armed Forces personnel in Scotland by 2020 be honoured.
“The report also highlights important issues for defence industries. It is vital that the work of our very capable shipbuilding and defence industries is not forgotten. Our shipyards in Scotland have proven time and again that they are able to deliver.
“The Defence Secretary should heed the recommendations in the committee’s report that there be a continuing dialogue with all key stakeholders.
Brown added: “I will press this point to the MOD Minister when I meet him this week, and urge that the Scottish Government be fully consulted ahead of any conclusions being reached.”
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