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Debate on the Address

My Lords, as the third noble and gallant Lord and former Chief of the Defence Staff—and the junior one—to speak, I am not altogether surprised that my superiors have stolen some of the best points I was going to make. It is very easy for the Government and the Treasury to say—as they have time and time again—that the military exaggerates its problems and always delivers when called upon to do so on operations. Of course no Government want to spend more on the military than they have to, but, despite repeated warnings, we in this country are still taking our services for granted and taking avoidable risks with the lives of some of our service men and women. We are involved in two unpleasant wars that are unpopular with the general public and put huge pressure on the services. Iraq and Afghanistan are not the only commitments that the services have and the Government’s and the Ministry of Defence’s planning assumptions do not match operational reality. The Army in particular is too small and the Government should not have reduced the infantry’s size as they have in view of the commitments that we have now and are likely to face. Too many people in Whitehall—politicians, civil servants and some military—believe that we can muddle through for a couple of years and return to the kind of life that existed at the end of the Cold War. I have spoken to senior officials who give the impression that Iraq and Afghanistan are short-term problems and who still fail to recognise the dangers we must face, and be prepared to face, in the coming years. This really is not a time to indulge in wishful thinking. Politicians have to realise that it is their duty to supply adequate, well-trained, well-paid and well-equipped forces. Politicians do not always have the luxury of choice that they think they have and the ability to remain aloof from crises. History will show that the peace dividend taken after the end of the Cold War was too large. The Army today is just about coping but is paying a considerable price. Certain parts of it will break if commitments continue and nothing is done about it. Reducing numbers in Iraq is very unlikely to be enough to rectify matters. Training is being curtailed, as the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Inge, said. Unless a unit is warned to go to Iraq or Afghanistan its training receives a very low priority. Exercises in Canada, which are so important for war fighting, are being cancelled. Overseas exercises are removed from the calendar. This is serious and brought about because of lack of funds and lack of available units. We have so little in reserve that a new and surprise threat will cause grave problems. Many officers and soldiers have now not experienced brigade and divisional training as exercises at this level do not happen. Many senior commanders in the future will never have had the opportunity to learn how different parts of the Army work together. We are even finding the Army recruiting reservists but then being told there are inadequate funds to train them. It is not surprising that they become disenchanted and leave. As far as equipment is concerned, there is certainly some very good news. Much of the Army’s equipment is first rate and as good as that of any army in the world. Of course, the Army has not got all it needs—it never will have—and there are severe problems with shortages in some areas. Certain equipment is desperately needed, such as helicopters and the new medium armoured vehicles. FRES—the future rapid effects system—is long overdue. The MoD has delayed its in-service date until 2012. I congratulate the Minister, the noble Lord, Lord Drayson, on his energetic and determined approach to controlling the very difficult equipment programme. The defence industrial strategy should receive strong support. Like the noble Lord, Lord King, I found the Prime Minister’s statement that the Army would be given anything it asked for in Afghanistan astonishing, and it was greeted with hollow laughter by serving service men and women. There are no helicopters sitting on shelves, and trained air crews cannot be magicked up from nowhere. Other speakers, notably my noble and gallant friend Lord Inge, have already talked about pay and allowances. I believe that we should spend a higher percentage of the defence budget on people and their conditions, and rather less on expensive platforms. My last point is that we should recognise that medical support in Iraq and Afghanistan is quite outstanding. But there is real bitterness in the Army and among Army families about how the wounded are treated at Selly Oak and other Birmingham National Health Service hospitals. Nobody is in any doubt that the wounded receive quite excellent clinical treatment from National Health Service surgeons, doctors and nurses—I am in no way criticising them. But our servicemen need—and were promised—a military environment and military wards, and very little has happened to bring this about. Ministers accepted the defence case. The shortcomings of the present system have been widely reported in the press and elsewhere. The whole story is a sorry one. The previous Conservative Government ignored military advice and damaged the Defence Medical Services. Their successors have been constantly warned, often in this House, of the seriousness of the situation. They have had some 10 years in which to get it right. In fact, due to funding, the situation is now worse than when they came to power. Our wounded deserve better, and, as a country, we should be ashamed. I have talked mostly about the Army, not because I am a general but because the Army today, supported by the Royal Air Force, bears the brunt of current operations and is likely to continue to do so. I am delighted that the Chancellor has been to Iraq to see for himself what is happening. I wish he had gone before and shown a greater interest in defence, but better late than never. It is good for the Prime Minister to go to Afghanistan. The Government should face up to some very difficult decisions quickly or they will preside over serious damage to our forces. It appears likely that the Government will eventually keep the nuclear deterrent, and they have two options—to inject considerable money into defence or to reprioritise the budget and direct money to where it is most needed to counter current and foreseeable threats. Ideally, both should be done. More money and readjustment are what is really needed. We should avoid a policy of continuing to muddle through, but I have an awful fear that the Government will funk it.