Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Craig of Radley (Crossbench). It was answered on Tuesday, 18 November 2008.

Defence Intelligence Staff

Question: My Lords, I thank the Minister for that Answer. She will recall the Butler inquiry four years ago, of which she was a member. It said: "““DIS is a vital component of and contributor to the national intelligence machinery … DIS is crucial to MoD in everything from strategic planning through equipment acquisition to the conduct of military operations””." Is not any reduction in intelligence provision to our Armed Forces akin to committing them to combat with inadequate or inferior equipment? With ongoing operations, surely that is both operationally and morally indefensible.

Answer: My Lords, the noble and gallant Lord knows very well the work done by defence intelligence, as do I. He mentioned that I served on the Butler review. The review said that if increased funding to the single intelligence account was required to commission DIS expert resources, that funding should be found. Most of the extra funding that has gone to the single intelligence budget has been for counterterrorism work. We are satisfied that the changes that we are making will not have an adverse effect. As I said, 90 per cent of the staff of DIS work outside London, and they are not at all affected.

Secondary information