Armed Forces Face "Unacceptable" Cuts

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 2nd Aug 2004

The Armed Forces are facing "unacceptable" cuts, cancellations and delays in vital equipment projects due to massive £3 billion cost overruns, MPs warned. The Commons Defence Committee said that the Ministry of Defence's much-touted "smart acquisition" strategy had failed "on almost all counts" to deliver promised efficiency improvements, six years after its introduction by the Labour government.

"Its objectives were to procure equipment faster, cheaper, better. On almost all counts, it has failed to deliver," the report said. "This means that our Armed Forces are still not getting the equipment they need when they need it. Cost increases of this magnitude (£3.1 billion in the past year) not only mean cancellations or further delay in the equipment programme, but can also lead to cuts elsewhere in defence. Given the recent pressures on our Armed Forces we believe such impacts would be unacceptable."

Committee chairman, Labour MP Bruce George, said that the problems identified by the report were "quite staggering". "Our Armed Forces are having to deal with many new security challenges in conditions where they are already overstretched and under-staffed. The last thing they need to worry about is whether or not critical equipment will turn up on time, or at all." This report is yet another example of the government failing to accept any responsibility.