Defence Policy

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Who Really Makes Defence Policy?

Articles

  • Jan.10.2019: UK councils invest £566m in arms firms linked to Yemen war. Workers’ pensions directly invested by local authorities in companies implicated in deadly Saudi campaign. Council pension funds have sizeable shareholdings in BAE Systems, Airbus, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman - key suppliers to the Saudi military. Local authority pension fund trustees are permitted by law to sell investments for ethical reasons, a position cemented by a legal defeat for the govt last year, in a case that allowed Councils to boycott Israeli companies through their pension schemes. Campaign Against Arms Trade said council employees’ retirement funds “should be invested in the public good, not in war and conflict". Tameside Council's "ethical" investment policy states “applying ethical, environmental or any other non-commercial policy either to investments generally or to selecting fund managers would be inconsistent with our legal duties and responsibilities”. Rob Davies, The Guardian.
  • May.22.2018: UK’s nuclear defence budget has £6bn hole. There is a hole of up to £6 billion in the budget for Britain’s nuclear deterrent submarines, warheads and missiles over the next decade. The Ministry of Defence has already delayed by 2 years the construction of one of its 7 nuclear-powered submarines, used to protect the 4-strong nuclear-armed fleet, to cut costs, the National Audit Office (NAO) says. Such delays, while saving money in the short term, increase the total purchase price of a piece of equipment. The UK’s “nuclear enterprise” of submarines, propulsion systems, missiles and warheads also has hundreds of staff shortages, with almost one third – 56 posts – of the jobs within the Defence Nuclear Organisation, the relatively new body within the MoD that oversees the nuclear enterprise, vacant. There is also a shortage of 337 skilled personnel across seven nuclear trades and specialisms, including Royal Navy nuclear marine engineers and weapons engineers. Military experts warn that a delay in the delivery of the replacement fleet of Dreadnought-class nuclear-armed boats could leave the UK without a continuous at-sea deterrent — the cornerstone of defence policy. The NAO identifies a £2.9 bn hole in the MoD’s spending plans for its nuclear enterprise in the 10 years to 2028. This “affordability gap” is on top of £3 bn in efficiency savings that the MoD has already said it needs to make in the nuclear domain over the same period. The MoD expects to spend some £50.9 bn on its nuclear submarines, warheads, missiles, propulsion systems and other areas over the next decade. This financial year that amounts to £5.2 bn, or 14% of the defence budget. Deborah Haynes, The Times.
  • May.15.2018: Put defence spending before NHS, says American envoy Woody Johnson. Britain should be ready to increase defence spending at the expense of the NHS to ensure its security and to remain a strong ally, the US ambassador to the UK has indicated. He was speaking in the context of Britain’s ability to fulfil an ambition to buy 138 of the F-35 Lightning II next-generation warplane. Military chiefs have bought 15 of the jets and have committed to buy a further 33 by 2025 but have set no timeframe on this. The cost of the programme — with a single combat-capable jet estimated to cost about £150m, though the govt refuses to confirm a figure — has raised private concerns among senior UK military officers. Deborah Haynes, The Times.
  • May.11.2018: MoD faces £21bn budget shortfall, warns spending watchdog. The Public Accounts Committee said the Ministry of Defence (MoD) “simply does not have enough money to buy all the equipment it says it needs” and accused it of not being clear with politicians or the public about the financial risks. The PAC inquiry said the “affordability gap” in the MoD’s equipment plan for 2017 to 2027 had worsened since it reviewed it last year, and criticised officials for still being “unable to determine the size” of it accurately. The most conservative estimate is £4.9bn, rising to a worst-case scenario of £20.8bn more than the 10-year £179.7bn equipment budget. This budget accounts for 40% of the MoD’s planned spending in that period. The PAC’s 2017 review found a budget shortfall of £7bn. Rajeev Syal, The Guardian.