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Foreign Affairs and Defence

I was using the generic word ““post”” to include parcels. I am sorry if I have inadvertently misled anyone by not explaining what the component elements of post are. It is intended that we will have the same arrangement this year as in previous years over the Christmas period. The difference now is that it will not stop after Christmas, but will continue all year round. The right hon. and learned Member for Devizes, the hon. Member for Mid-Sussex, my hon. Friend the Member for Bolton, North-East and others raised issues to do with the level of commitment and the tour intervals to which our forces are currently subject. I admit that they are very busy. As the Chief of the Defence Staff said only yesterday—I think that most Members will agree—"““we cannot sustain our current level of operational commitment indefinitely. That's quite clear””." He went on to say that"““what is also clear is that we are now starting to reduce that level of operational commitment.””" I dealt with this issue in some detail in the last defence policy debate because I agree that it is important. Suffice it to say that our planning assumptions and force structure have been successful and we have generated the capabilities that we need, but we also need to keep the force structure under review to ensure that we do not burn out the core of our military, and particularly the Army. I understand that, and we are doing just that. In a debate of this nature it is entirely appropriate that Members raise the important issue of defence expenditure, and Members in all parts of the House have done so. The hon. Member for Mid-Sussex stressed that we must spend more on defence. He is not alone in holding that view, and we are doing that. The recent comprehensive spending review settlement gave the MOD an average annual real-terms growth of 1.5 per cent., continuing the longest period of sustained growth in defence spending since the 1980s and representing an additional £7.7 billion for defence spending over the next three years. Of course, that is not all that is spent on defence; that sum is in addition to the MOD's core budget. Over and above that, the net additional cost of operations comes out of the reserves and, to date, that has been an additional £6.6 billion.