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Defence in the United Kingdom

Wiltshire can wait for now. My right hon. Friend for North-East Hampshire was quite right to say that the way in which we treat our armed forces and approach their welfare impacts on recruitment. The Ministry of Defence should therefore put far more resource into the mental welfare of our armed forces. As others wish to speak, I shall make one final point. The Government, paradoxically, seem to have a doctrine of privatising virtually everything that moves in the armed services. That is worrying. If there were a business case, as I said, that would be fair enough. If it were in the national interest, I would agree. A satisfactory case has not been made that the policy of privatisation will improve our national security or our armed services in aggression or in peacekeeping, and there is increased demand on them to fulfil our international aid obligations. Unless a clearer case can be made by the Government, I cannot support them. My constituents are extremely disappointed. Only a few weeks ago the Minister for the Armed Forces came to my constituency and said that Donnington had an optimistic future. Of course, that was before the election. After the election, we get the job loss announcements. It is a scandal. That is why I have asked the Defence Committee to initiate an inquiry. The closure of the Army Base Repair Organisation, the potential closure of the Equipment Support Procurement and Provision Agency in the constituency of the hon. Member for Telford (David Wright) with the potential loss of 550 jobs, the loss of jobs at the Defence Logistics Organisation in Donnington and the potential impact on RAF Cosford under the defence training review will leave a huge hole in the side of Shropshire and in the entire west midlands. I ask the Government to reconsider their commitment to Shropshire. I should be grateful if the Minister would respond candidly and, as other hon. Members have said, transparently.