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Armed Forces

My Lords, in his usual courteous way, the Minister has dealt with many of the things that the Government are usefully doing in many fields, but does he accept the distinction made by the noble Lord, Lord Garden, about the difference between the long and short term? Does he accept that, in the long term, the Government have a massive problem that can be dealt with only by extreme means? There has to be a radical change in either funding or direction, equipment and the operational deployment of the forces. That is really the bull point.