Britain's armed forces are teetering on the 'brink of disaster' due to chronic underinvestment, the former head of the Royal Navy has warned. Lord West of Spithead, who commanded the force for four years in the early 2000s, called on the Government to set out precisely how it intends to raise funds for the forthcoming Defence Investment Plan.
He was among a number of peers who criticised the current state of the armed forces, with their former chief, Lord Stirrup, cautioning that an inadequate funding announcement would perpetuate decades of 'hollowing out' of the services. Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat peer Lord Lee of Trafford, a former defence minister, declared that the condition of the Royal Navy is a 'national embarrassment'.
The Government has confirmed that the Defence Investment Plan (DIP), which will outline long-term funding and strategy for the armed forces, will be published ahead of the Nato summit in Ankara, Turkey, next month. Defence minister Lord Coaker acknowledged shortcomings, conceding that the Government ought to have done more to convince the public of the argument for cuts in order to finance defence spending.
Lord West, a Labour former defence minister, said: 'Our armed forces and our defence industries, I believe, are teetering on the brink of disaster due to lack of investment over certainly the last 15 years but actually even longer and a lack of decisions recently about spending the money that apparently is being released for defence.' He added: 'There is no doubt they are in a very parlous state.'
Lord Coaker responded: 'He's right to point out the need for us to increase our capability. We are doing that. In terms of countering the Russian threat as it stands at the moment, we are not standing still, we are taking action with both our RAF Typhoons, with working with our Nato allies in the North Atlantic, and the high north.'
Crossbench peer Lord Stirrup stressed that funding was critically required for 'resource expenditure' alongside capital investment. The former Chief of the Defence Staff stated: 'It pays for fuel and spares which our people need to conduct the training fundamental to their operational capability. It pays their salaries, it pays for the standard of their accommodation.' He warned that any plan which does not fund resource adequately 'will just continue the hollowing out of our armed forces which has taken place over the last two decades'.
