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Royal Navy

I want to make progress and get to the point that was raised in the previous intervention. It is clear, then, that the Royal Navy is vital to Britain’s security, and that of the wider world. It is also clear that the service does not receive the kind of widespread recognition that it deserves. Indeed, some of the press coverage in recent months suggests that a depressing mix of cuts, redundancies and cash shortages is imminent. We are told that we are to mothball up to 50 per cent. of the Navy’s surface fleet, freeze all officer promotions, and cancel orders for future warships. That is speculation, and we will no doubt hear more of it today. We have already had a flavour of it. None of those assertions is true. The continued peddling of misinformation does not make it any more truthful. Those who do so should pause and ask themselves what effect their naked political point-scoring is having on the morale of those proudly serving in the Royal Navy, and their families. The truth is that 28 new ships have joined the fleet since 1997 and we are in the middle of a huge programme of investment in new capabilities. We are constantly examining our use of defence resources to ensure that they serve the interests of the nation as effectively as possible. As we underlined in our 2004 White Paper on future capabilities, defence cannot stand still. It needs continually to refine and adjust its posture to stay ahead of emerging threats, as well as to respond to today’s operational challenges. We have several initiatives underway to ensure that we have the right balance between the differing demands on defence. I shall comment briefly on those. First, we are conducting a routine update of our defence spending plans to ensure that resources are directed to where our front-line forces need them most. That is what Governments should do, and do properly. Secondly, we are reviewing our naval base infrastructure to ensure that it is the right size to support the Navy’s and the country’s needs in the future. I acknowledge the contribution made by each of the naval bases to the security of the country and to the local economy, wherever they are. It will be important for the review to explore how best to preserve these capabilities in the future. Both Portsmouth and Devonport have put together a powerful taskforce from their local community to argue the case. All those arguments will be taken into account as we assess what we need to do to ensure we give—