MoD 'save now, pay later' budget criticised
Updated on 15 December 2009
At least one RAF base is set to close as defence chiefs seek to fund more equipment for Afghanistan, but the National Audit Office accuses them of adopting a "save now, pay later" policy.
The defence secretary will outline £1.5bn pounds worth of cuts to manpower and equipment later today in an attempt to reduce the annual shortfall in his department's budget. But, like the prime minister's announcement of extra money to tackle roadside bombs yesterday, these savings will in theory allow more equipment for troops fighting in Afghanistan. The boost to resources is expected to include an an extra 22 Chinook helicopters.
As Channel 4 News reported last week, the package of cuts could include the closure of at least one RAF base as the MoD has to clear it's budget deficit.
The National Audit Office (NAO) blamed short term cost-cutting at the Ministry of Defence for driving up final bills for equipment and putting frontline operations at risk.
New specialist training facilities in the UK and an analysis centre to process surveillance intelligence are to be funded by a "reprioritisation" of existing spending plans.
Another £10m has also been found to buy 400 state-of-the-art mine detectors amid growing public anger at Britain's rising death toll in Afghanistan, much of it caused by roadside bombs.
But other areas of spending face the axe as limited resources are shifted to ensuring soldiers are properly equipped for the expanded battle with the Taliban.
In addition to the closure of the RAF base, cuts are also predicted to the MoD Police and back office functions. It is thought major projects like the Royal Navy's two new aircraft carriers could be vulnerable in a strategic defence review scheduled to be held after the general election.
The announcement comes as the body of the 100th British soldier to be killed in Afghanistan this year is flown back to the UK, and the first of 500 extra British troops to be deployed to Afghanistan arrive in the country.
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg told Channel 4 News at Noon: "Of course you can't trust the ministry of defence or this government to get it right given the spectacular botched job they've made of many multi-billion pound defence procurement contracts in the past, as detailed by the National Audit Office.
"I think everyone would welcome the prospect of more Chinook helicopters for our frontline soldiers, but do remember that many of these helicopters won't be delivered for up to another decade - well after, I hope, all of our soldiers are back home and out of Afghanistan.
He said he did not think the third tranche of the Eurofighter programme was "justifiable", and added that the UK cannot afford to replace the Trident nuclear missile system on a like-for-like basis "nor is it strategically necessary any more".
"It is an inescapable conclusion from the straightjacket, the financial straightjacket that this government now finds itself in, that the days of simply salami-slicing saving - from a little budget saving here, from a little budget saving there - are over.
"This notion that you can make ends meet thought efficiency savings is nonsense. You need to take big decisions and drop big spending commitments, particularly in the defence spending procurement environment."
