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Armed Forces: Future Defence Policy

My Lords, I join many others in their appreciation of the sacrifice of members of the Armed Forces recently in Afghanistan, in particular the soldiers murdered while helping to train the new police force. I note that we have also now lost more service personnel this year than in any other year since the Falklands 27 years ago. The difference between the two conflicts is that in the Falklands there was a defined aim and an ability to achieve it in a realistic timeframe, as has been so well expressed by the noble Lord, Lord King. Sadly, in Afghanistan, while there is a defined aim, the closing stages have not yet been reached. The Afghanistan situation, coming so soon after the last overseas use of our Armed Forces in Iraq, has created severe pressures not only on the Ministry of Defence but, particularly, on the families of servicemen, with far too frequent returns to theatre and the dangers and stresses encountered, often caused by a shortage of troops. This has also resulted in a hugely increased workload on the supporting agencies and charities, such as Combat Stress, which work so hard to help restore often damaged minds to health. Without doubt, many of the issues encountered in our defence forces today can be traced to the policy of cost-cutting embarked upon at the last review and which did not allow for future requirement as it developed. As a result, we have seen tragic and unnecessary losses, with systems failures in the Nimrod, shortage of equipment delivery to the front line, principally in helicopters but also in vehicles, and, finally, disillusioned personnel, from generals downwards, resulting both in resignations and the previously unseen reports in the press by senior commanders. Where I feel a mistake has been made in recent times is the failure on the part of the Government and the Treasury to move with the situation and correctly assess the balance of need for equipment against the requirements that they have set for the Armed Forces. We have extremely professional, able and enthusiastic volunteer members of our Armed Forces but we expect them to produce results with equipment such as Nimrod without the money to complete a safe refurbishment, or a helicopter fleet that does not have sufficient parts to operate with a complete complement of equipment without regularly cannibalising parts from other aircraft. Even our elite airborne forces will be expected to qualify for their trade using aircraft they will not even use for the operational role because we are unable to supply sufficient aircraft to guarantee training and operational role fulfilment at the same time. However, it is encouraging that the urgent operational requirements now appear to be being met. The Ministry of Defence has been forced to budget-cut, which has brought the Armed Forces into a state similar to a supermarket, with the shelves packed with only enough stores for the "just in time" delivery and often the emphasis too much on cost-cutting. I appreciate that some items are too expensive to keep in store. Sadly, where the supermarket is winning is through its ability to restock the shelves when the goods are taken off, while the Armed Forces often have to wait at the expense of training. A decision needs to be made as to whether the Armed Forces are a business or an essential part of government and foreign policy. The Minister acknowledged that the last Strategic Defence Review did not anticipate 9/11 and I welcome his announcement of the coming Green Paper. I would advance this as a priority for whichever Government are on the Ministers’ Bench next year. There is often too much emphasis on welfare, education and health—all very important subjects—with defence relegated to the second row in the list of priority. The Government have to accept that if they wish the Armed Forces to achieve goals set for the defence forces on their behalf, then defence spending will have to be increased considerably and not reduced to provide for other departments of a more politically beneficial kind. I hope the Minister will be able to review his decision not to select Option 1, which he mentioned in his opening remarks. Defence may not be a good vote winner, but then neither are casualties when the cause is poor management. Turning to the human element of our forces, this extends from family life to the years after retirement from service. We have heard evidence of the appalling condition of some married accommodation and soldiers’ accommodation and this must be taken back under a responsible management scheme. Families are of great importance to the welfare of those sent overseas at the wish of the Government and deserve to be given good and well-maintained property to live in. The recent proposals to alter the British Forces Post Office did not appear to acknowledge the link that was provided to service personnel overseas without a United Kingdom postal address. I welcome the reversal of the decision to axe the 12 overseas addresses and I hope that the Minister will be able to give assurance that, whatever changes may be made, the level of service will not in any way diminish and service personnel will still retain the benefits of a British postal system although living away from home. I endorse the comments of the noble Lord, Lord Freeman. One of the few benefits of the recent conflicts has been to bring to the attention of the medical community the psychological effects on the Armed Forces of the less pleasant aspects of their job. This has allowed ailments such as PTSD to be addressed far faster than ever before. The charity Combat Stress has discovered that, after a service person left the security of the services, until recently it took up to 14 years for the suffering to come to the attention of the medical profession. This was mainly because it required the sufferer to acknowledge that he or she had a problem that required help, either with PTSD, depression or the misuse of drink and drugs to provide a barrier. It is now acknowledged that help as soon as possible after the event will have a greater benefit than nature left to take its course, and many of the problems are being identified in up to 18 months. Frequently this allows the problem to be addressed within the service and identified and controlled under the new TRiM system, which is encouraging people to talk to each other about their experiences at the time of the conflict. I appreciate that it is difficult for the Ministry of Defence to retain control over the longer-term veterans, and I understand that the ministry would like veterans to be looked after through the NHS. I ask the Minister to take a leaf from the Scottish Government’s book, where the NHS in Scotland receives funding from the Scottish Government specifically for the treatment of veterans. I further ask the Minister to take note of the points that I and other noble Lords have made on funding and on the welfare of service personnel, to endeavour to achieve more in discussions with the Treasury and to keep Option 1 on the table.