Liam Fox has attacked Labour’s handling of the defence budget, describing it as “an exercise in irresponsibility and failure of duty”.
The Shadow Defence Secretary said it was “a scandal” that we have not had a Strategic Defence Review since 1998.
He stressed, “As a consequence, our troops struggle with inadequate numbers of helicopters and armoured vehicles in Afghanistan. We are short of infantry and Special Forces. Our soldiers have endured the slight of a part-time Defence Secretary; now they have a part-time procurement minister and a Secretary of State ranked 21st out of 23 in the Cabinet.”
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Liam criticised Labour for saying they would not hold a Strategic Defence Review until after the next election:
“Not for Labour any difficult decisions which may be unpopular; no chance that voters will be told the consequences of its catastrophic economic management. Even by the standards of New Labour, this is an unparalleled exercise in cynicism, manipulation and cowardice.”
Liam promised a Conservative Government would undertake a proper review of our defence needs – and stressed:
“At the next election, there will be real choice. We can change to the principled realism of the Conservatives, or continue with the discredited cynicism and failure of Labour. It will be a stark choice but, for defence in particular, a crucial one.”