Concerns raised by Stuart Anderson MP, as government refuses to rule out cuts to Armed Forces training budget
Stuart Anderson MP is “deeply concerned” after the Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard MP refused to rule out cuts to the military training budget when quizzed on the topic by Stuart, who is the interim Shadow Minister for the Armed Forces.
Stuart asked the question at Defence Question Time in Parliament on Monday, 14th October 2024. It follows an earlier admission by the Ministry of Defence that pay rises will be funded by “reprioritisation and saving measures.” Concerns have been raised this could include cuts to the training budget. Ministers have not ruled it out, despite being repeatedly urged to.
In August, it was reported that defence chiefs had been instructed to find £400 million to fund the pay award. Stuart has said this must not come at the cost of high quality training, which he added is essential for military operations - ensuring “readiness, lethality and survivability”.
Following his election in July, Stuart called on the government to urgently boost spending on defence to 2.5% of GDP. It followed concerns raised by Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin about “deficiencies” in personnel, training, technology and stockpiles of munitions.
The National Audit Office (NAO) reported on 9th October spending on defence in 2023-24 was £54 billion. This represents an increase of 18% since 2019-20. The last government pledged to increase defence spending to £87 billion a year by 2030, which would be equivalent to 2.5 per cent of GDP.
Stuart Anderson MP said:
“Our Armed Forces personnel make many sacrifices in service of our country. They should be equipped with high quality training that ensures readiness, lethality, and survivability. This is being put at risk by the new government which refuses to match our pledge to spend 2.5 per cent of GDP on defending our country. It has instead subjected itself to another review which could take a decade to complete. I am deeply concerned the training needs of our Armed Forces is being jeopardised and call on the government to reconsider its decisions on this very important issue.”
In Parliament, Stuart said:
“As a rifleman, I know the importance of training for military operations; it ensures readiness, lethality and survivability. In addition to the recent announcement that there is no firm timeline for spending 2.5% of GDP, possible cuts to the training budget have been mentioned. Will the Minister confirm that there will be no cuts to the training budget in either this financial year or the next?”
In response, Minister for the Armed Forces Luke Pollard MP said:
“I welcome the hon. Gentleman to his place; it is a great job being shadow Minister for the Armed Forces, as I know. If I may say so politely, the reason there is severe financial pressure on us is that this Government were left with a £22 billion financial black hole by his party. Let me be clear: supporting our armed forces to train to be the best, to deter aggression and to defeat it if necessary is a priority for this Government. Despite the economic circumstances his party passed on to mine, we are taking steps to ensure that our armed forces have what they need.”
Stuart’s question can be found at https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/7e001e5a-28a0-4968-a819-bf53c2321f10?in=15:03:55.
