MPs fear Britain’s armed forces ‘have been cut beyond the bone’ and must be increased in Jeremy Hunt’s Budget – as Ministry of Defence and Treasury face battle over £11billion boost
Britain’s Armed Forces have been ‘cut beyond the bone’ and must be boosted at the next Budget, MPs said last night.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has demanded an extra £11billion for the Ministry of Defence to cover the cost of the war in Ukraine and inflation.
The Chancellor is understood to be resisting the demands, saying they are unaffordable and pointing to existing projects which are billions of pounds over budget.
Yesterday, Tory MPs said Jeremy Hunt must ‘stop this nonsense that we can get military forces on the cheap’, as they called for fresh cash to replace the billions of pounds of tanks, missiles and armour sent to Ukraine.
Following a litany of scandals over MoD waste, they said military bosses must ‘fess up’ that their procurement system is broken and ‘fix it rapidly’.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has demanded an extra £11billion for the Ministry of Defence to cover the cost of the war in Ukraine and inflation
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It came as it emerged defence bosses had spent £31,000 of taxpayers’ cash on overpriced luxury biscuits. The MoD paid up to 25p for a packet of two Meredith and Drew biscuits – more than two-thirds more than they cost on Amazon, the Sun revealed.
The British Army has also overseen the ‘disastrous’ £5.5billion Ajax tank programme, which is close to being shelved after concerns were raised that the ‘high-tech’ vehicles make crews sick and cannot fire on the move.
Meanwhile, the number of troops in the Army has been reduced from 83,000 in 2015 towards a target of 72,500 by 2025. Army supplies have also been depleted by the £2.3billion of military aid provided to Ukraine last year – more than any other nation has provided except the United States.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader who served in Northern Ireland and Zimbabwe in the Scots Guard, said: ‘We have cut the Army beyond the bone. It’s time we stopped this nonsense and pretence that we can get military forces on the cheap. It is not in a fit state to fight a Ukrainian-style conflict.
‘The MoD needs more money, but it must ensure what it spends is spent wisely and sensibly on machines that actually work.’
Former armed forces minister Mark Francois said: ‘The MoD is trapped in a prison of its own making. They undoubtedly need more money… but they also remain in denial that their procurement system is broken.
‘If they want the extra cash they have to fess up that their system doesn’t work, and then promise to fix it rapidly.’