Fox blames MoD over 1bn cuts

Defence secretary says MoD is bedevilled by waste
Middle East export drive gets minister's backing

The defence secretary, Liam Fox, has promised a radical shakeup of his ministry, which is bedevilled by waste and overspend, and claimed an arms exports drive would help the country out of its economic problems.

He was speaking on the eve of a key meeting of top defence officials who need to make immediate 1bn cuts in equipment and personnel. The ministry's defence equipment board meet to decide on the coming year's spending round and Fox made it clear that he does not expect the Treasury to let the MoD off the hook.

Fox's call for "enhanced defence exports" came as David Cameron continued his tour of the Middle East accompanied by representatives of Britain's major arms companies, including BAE Systems, Thales UK, QinetiQ and Rolls Royce. Fox said: "The MoD can be at the forefront of the government export-led growth strategy."

In a speech to Civitas, a centre-right free market thinktank, in London Fox lambasted his own ministry, saying it suffered from an "institutional lack of accountability, from ministers down", and a "conspiracy of optimism, through which the risks and costs in new projects are underestimated, only to find mushrooming costs".

He said defence officials civilian and military would have to show ministers that projects could be realistically afforded within existing budgets, and he revealed that future projects would be examined "to ensure risks and costs are well understood and that they remain affordable".

Fox earlier blamed the Labour government for the spending of more than 8bn of taxpayers' money on weapons projects that, according to the Commons public accounts committee, have been written off or delayed. Labour was also blamed for the estimated 36bn black hole equivalent to the MoD's entire annual budget threatening the ministry over the coming decade.

Margaret Hodge, the former Labour minister who chairs the public ! accounts committee, placed the blame on the culture in the MoD where "nobody [was] the final arbiter of decision-making, whether it's the generals competing or the generals against the civil servants".

Shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy said: "While we support Liam Fox's words, we will judge him by his actions. His rushed defence review was not properly costed and is being reopened to find an additional 1bn cuts to the equipment programme."

Fox said the MoD faced difficult financial choices but declined to say where cuts would be made. The RAF's fleet of Tornado jets is a likely victim along with backroom, mainly civilian, staff.


guardian.co.uk Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds


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