264 lines
7.0 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
264 lines
7.0 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
news
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politics
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conservative
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8045297
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-----
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# Conservative Conference: Labour spent defence budget 'like out of control
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online shoppers'
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## Defence Secretary Liam Fox will today launch a scathing assault on
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Labour's stewardship of the armed forces, accusing the former government of
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behaving ''like out-of-control online shoppers who kept ordering more and more
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without once considering how they might pay for them when the goods arrived''.
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![Conservative Conference: Labour spent defence budget 'like out of control
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online shoppers'][1]
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Defence Secretary Liam Fox Photo: REUTERS
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7:45AM BST 06 Oct 2010
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David Cameron has described the defence budget as the biggest ''mess'' which
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he inherited from Gordon Brown's regime, and Dr Fox will today say that the
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military faces cuts now because of Labour's ''irresponsibility'' in office.
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The Defence Secretary addresses the Conservative conference in Birmingham days
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ahead of the completion of negotiations with the Treasury over cuts of 10%-20%
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demanded by Chancellor George Osborne.
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Dr Fox has been sounding a bullish note in recent days, describing Mr Cameron
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as his ''greatest ally'' in his battle with the Treasury, and it is thought
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that the settlement expected early next week will fix the MoD's sacrifices at
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around 10% - the lower end of the Chancellor's scale.
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However, Dr Fox will tell activists that this saving comes on top of £38
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billion of unfunded liabilities relating to commitments which Labour signed up
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to over the coming 10 years.
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The Strategic Defence and Security Review expected two days ahead of Mr
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Osborne's October 20 spending review will spell out how these savings can be
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achieved, with all three forces expected to lose cherished programmes - and
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speculation that one or both of the Royal Navy's planned aircraft carriers may
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be ditched.
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## Related Articles
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* [Brown tells Cameron to spend more on new aircraft carriers][2]
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06 Oct 2010
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Dr Fox will tell the Tory faithful, for whom the armed forces are a totemic
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priority: ''I didn't come into politics wishing to see a reduction in our
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defence budget. Neither did the Prime Minister.
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''But while we can never predict where events will take us or the unavoidable
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bills we will have to pay as a consequence, we must confront the ghastly truth
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of Labour's legacy.
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''During their time in office Labour pushed projects ever more desperately
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into future years to try to make an impossible budget balance in year, only to
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increase the overall cost of the defence programme still further.
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''They behaved like out-of-control online shoppers who kept ordering more and
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more without once considering how they might pay for them when the goods
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arrived.
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''The price of this irresponsibility will ultimately be paid for by reductions
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as we try to return defence to a sound footing.
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''So we face the SDSR with unavoidably constrained finances.
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''And they did all of this during a time of war.''
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The £46 billion in interest being paid annually on debts run up during
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Labour's time in office amounts to enough to buy an extra four aircraft
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carriers, 10 destroyers, 50 C17 cargo planes and 300 Chinook helicopters, fund
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13,000 extra soldiers and still have enough left over to revolutionise forces
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accommodation, he will say.
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And he will add: ''The country's finances are wrecked and the world is more
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dangerous than at any other time in recent memory.
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''Never has a defence review been carried out under such extreme
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circumstances.''
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It emerged last night that the MoD will seek to bring spending under control
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by renegotiating 40-year-old contracting rules which require it to contribute
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towards defence companies' office running costs, pensions and redundancy
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payments.
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Procurement Minister Peter Luff told the BBC the current rules - dating back
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to 1968 - were heavily weighted towards the private sector and overdue for
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reform.
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A review, due to take 18 months, could save the MoD millions of pounds, he
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said.
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[What are these?][9]
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* Share: [Share][8] [ ][10] [ ][11]
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[Tweet][12]
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Conference-Labour-spent-defence-budget-like-out-of-control-online-
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shoppers.html
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