Our armed forces and their families are the backbone of the nation’s security.
Our armed forces and their families are the backbone of the nation’s security. With major defence establishments at Coulport and Faslane, they play an important role in the life of Argyll & Bute.
At a strategic level, there now needs to be a formal all-encompassing defence review. It is over ten years since the last one, and the world has changed immensely, so a defence review is well overdue and needs to address some of the following areas:
• Objectives Commitments & Resources – Any review needs to determine the objectives, detail our commitments and importantly ensure the resources are made available. If the United Kingdom wishes to maintain its global influence for good, then proper funding is a pre-requisite. Too often the temptation has been to fund things on the cheap. If that is the case, then politicians should be honest with the country and our armed forces, reducing their objectives accordingly. Matching resources with commitments will resolve the current overstretch and mission fatigue, helping combat the worrying trend in retention especially amongst servicemen.
• Society & Our Armed Forces - Our Armed Forces command respect and we should encourage school visits, the wearing of uniforms in public, welcome home parades, Veterans Day and work experience in the services for young people. The Secretary of State should be a prestigious full time political, not a musical chair appointment in an annual cabinet reshuffle. Although we can criticise the US for some things, the way in which ordinary US citizens supports their forces and families is commendable.
• Equipment Procurement - Defence procurement is dominated by projects that are over-budget, late, and sometimes operationally defective or redundant. It is critical that service personnel have the right equipment and protection when on operations and it is the duty of government to ensure they get it when they need it. Capability, interoperability, adaptability, affordability and exportability are five criteria for future procurement projects.
• Welfare - In terms of defence housing, too much service accommodation is still in a dreadful state of repair, with 45% of single living accommodation at the foot of the scale. It is also important that the defence hospital unit and a world class rehabilitation facility are maintained. The issue of compensation, pensions, spouses’ pensions needs resolved with a common sense approach that is consistent with those in the public and private sectors.
These are some of the issues that any Defence Review should look at, but of course from a local perspective there are a number of issues that resonate here in Argyll & Bute.
One of the real concerns locally is the number of MoD houses that remain unoccupied in parts of Argyll. The problem is particularly acute in Helensburgh with over a 100 homes lying empty. With a desperate need for affordable houses for families, much discussion has taken place between council officers, councillors and defence estates on this issue. I hope that a solution can be found, to enable either service families or local residents to occupy these homes.
Of course, no commentary on defence would be complete without mentioning Trident – the UK’s ballistic nuclear deterrent based at Faslane. In a dangerous world with rogue states like North Korea acquiring ballistic nuclear capability we still need the ultimate deterrent. Moreover, the importance of Trident and its successor, to Faslane and Argyll cannot be underestimated. In the absence of Trident, the military need for a UK submarine base at Faslane disappears and with it the 11,000 direct and indirect jobs that it provides. The economic value of Faslane is over £220 million and its closure would prompt a cataclysmic collapse in the local economy, house values, our pubs, restaurants, shops and taxi’s.
A Scotland without nuclear weapons at Faslane may excite some politicians, but it would leave many families in and around Helensburgh with little hope for the future. And what an advert Helensburgh as a “ghost town” would be as the Lomond gateway into Argyll & Bute. That is why I unashamedly support Faslane, Trident, its successor, our forces and the critical role they play in our community.
Argyll needs politicians to defend our military establishments and that is what I will do.
