Party Manifestos - Conservatives on Defence

[Whenurhappy]

Hot off the Press - the Conservative's statement on Defence:

Defence

The soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, civilians and their families that make up our Armed Forces are the backbone of this nation’s security. But more than a decade of neglect by Labour has left them overstretched, undermanned, and with key equipment arriving late.
A Conservative government will, most importantly, repair the broken Military Covenant, respect our Armed Forces, and ensure that Forces’ families and veterans are taken care of. We will double the operational bonus for troops serving in Afghanistan. And we will pilot a follow-up telephone service that will track and monitor veterans’ mental health after they leave the Armed Forces, so that those who are deemed at risk can be referred for treatment.
Our Military Covenant Commission (http://www.militarycovenantcommission.com/) has recommended better ways of taking care of service members and their families. The Commission's report (http://www.conservatives.com/~/media/Files/Downloadable%20Files/MILITARY_COVENANT.ashx?dl=true) will provide the basis for our Armed Forces manifesto which will establish a strong relationship between the Armed Forces and the next Conservative government.
A Conservative government will match defence resources with commitments by launching a Strategic Defence Review and introducing a US-style system of regular defence reviews. We will also conduct a capabilities review to maximise efficiency in the Ministry of Defence.
Future defence procurement projects will be determined on five criteria:

Capability
Interoperability
Adaptability
Affordability
ExportabilityWe will streamline the procurement process to ensure the speedy delivery of equipment to the front line.
We will ensure that NATO, not the EU, remains the cornerstone of our nation’s defence. And we are committed to replacing Trident and maintaining the UK's independent nuclear deterrent.


Hmm. If the Conservatives forms a majority government, what then?


The QEC meet all the criteria, especially the exportability bit. India? Interested?
EU - slap in the face. Does the UK withdraw personnel and resources committed to EU missions?
Quadriennial Reviews? Decisional statis for the last two years preceeding a review?Comments from fellow PPruners...

[Jabba_TG12]

All well and good, but some of us still have memories of Bunter Soames and Options, not to mention the loss of the hospitals at Ely, Halton, etc.

The tories are not immune to short-sightedness. To be honest, I would feel a lot better about a manifesto that said that they were going to shake Main Building warmly by the throat. This is a start, but no different to New Labia. Smacks of platitudes, I'm afraid.

Cant really be any worse than New Labia, but hardly the dawning of a new age...:(

[dakkg651]

The QEC meet all the criteria, especially the exportability bit. India? Interested?
EU - slap in the face. Does the UK withdraw personnel and resources committed to EU missions?
Quadriennial Reviews? Decisional statis for the last two years preceeding a review?Comments from fellow PPruners...



Yes.

Could you translate this for me please?

[GOLF_BRAVO_ZULU]

We will streamline the procurement process to ensure the speedy delivery of equipment to the front line.


So, how many times have we attempted this over the last 15 years? How many times has it been interfered with by the Treasury and the Government? To be honest, I've lost count.

[Romeo Oscar Golf]

OK can someone remind me how much it's costing to participate in the nonsense that is Afghanistan. Whilst you guys almost certainly deserve the increase in operational bonus, if we were not there that money also would be "saved".
I like the bit about dumping EU as a cornerstone of defence, and a restoration of the Military Covenant, but somehow I'm not covinced.
Mind you, anything will be better than the present incumbents.

[Whenurhappy]

Dakkg:-


QEC - Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers
Currently the UK has committeed (double hatted) battle groups to EU missions - as well as a few personnel.
Quadriennial Reviews - the US have these defence reviews every 4 years; the concern is that enormous effort is put into theprocess, rather than the decision, and that decisions ar eheld off pending the next QDR

[dakkg651]

Many Thanks.

So what the Tories are saying is pretty well the same as Labour.

The military is to continue getting shafted to support corrupt bankers bonuses, an overloaded NHS and education system caused by a dangerous immigration policy, and the £1billion credit card bill run up by senior civil servants food and wine intake.

As for DCs promise to give power back to the people, he'll have to retrieve it off Brussels first!

[kaikohe76]

Problem folks is, that the Military are almost a nuisance to all political parties come election time, they are mentioned in the manifestos rather as an after thought. Two of the best Defence Secretaries the UK has had over the years were both from Labour, Merlyn Rees & Roy Mason. I wonder, purely as a matter of interest, what the BNP's view is re the UK Armed Forces & the Military. Ok try this senario, Conservatives get the largest number of seats, but not an outright majority. David Cameron offers Nick Clegg the post of Defence Secretary in a Tory / Lib Dem goverment?

[NURSE]

Lib-Dems

Raise pay to levels of new police officers.
Withdraw from Afghanistan
Cancel any like for like replacement of trident
Cancel Eurofighter Tranche 3B
Slash defence procurement spending.

[stinkydocker]

BNP Defence Policy:
The British National Party — Blog (http://bnp.org.uk/policies/defence/)


British soldiers’ lives are one of the most valuable assets this nation has, and should only be risked in conflicts in which British interests are directly affected.

This simple and logical core belief is paramount to the British National Party’s defence policy, which demands self-sufficiency for our island nation in all aspects.

As such, the BNP is committed to withdrawing from the illegal and immoral wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the prosecution for war crimes of all Westminster officials who deliberately tricked this nation into those conflicts which have cost billions and at least 300 British lives.

The people to be prosecuted for war crimes will include the leaders of the parliamentary political parties who supported the war — Labour’s Blair and Brown, the Tory’s Hague, Duncan Smith, Howard and Cameron — and all officials who conspired to prepare the pack of lies which provided the “justification” for the invasion of Iraq.

A BNP government will never commit British troops to any conflict which does not directly affect British interests — ever.

Britain can only be safe if it is able to defend itself without being dependent on any other country. Britain therefore needs to have a credible and independent defence against all threats — and the ability to use this wisely.

Successive cuts in defence spending have left Britain’s armed forces perilously weak. We will boost Britain’s armed forces to ensure that they are able to deal with any emergency, and defend our homeland and our independence.

The BNP’s defence policy is to:

- Strengthen our conventional forces;

- Retain a genuinely independent nuclear deterrent and produce all our weaponry in Britain;

- Only commit British forces when British national interests are at stake;

- Preserve and restore our historic County Regiments;

- Bring our troops back from Germany and withdraw from NATO, since political developments make both commitments obsolete;

- Close all foreign military bases on British soil;

- Refuse to risk British lives in meddling ‘peacekeeping’ missions in parts of the world where no British interests are at stake;

- Restore national service for our young with the option of civil or military service.

The time has come for change.


Some seriously radical suggestions, but some good stuff too....

Until this SDR nobody will commit to anything...

[Tourist]

stinky

"Some seriously radical suggestions, but some good stuff too...."

Or B: Some cretinous prattling by infantile neonazis that make the UKIP look heavyweight.

[Orange Poodle]

Lib-Dems

Raise pay to levels of new police officers.
Withdraw from Afghanistan
Cancel any like for like replacement of trident
Cancel Eurofighter Tranche 3B
Slash defence procurement spending.

So how much will we save by cancelling Tranch 3b Typhoon after penalty caluses??

OP

[acmech1954]

To my mind these minor parties can promise what ever they like, because even they know that there is no chance that they will be in a position to enforce them, and unless there is a hung vote, that includes the Lib Dems.

[neildo]

Here is a handy site that allows side by side comparison on different policies:

Compare Political Party Policies - Pocket Politics (http://www.pocketpolitics.co.uk/compare/start.html)

Choose the parties, hit the button then choose the defence tab at the top...

[Wander00]

Could not resist a giggle at the LD's strategy for modernising defence housing estate: reduce number of senior officers - je ne comprend pas!

[vecvechookattack]

I had a giggle at that..... How many Admirals live in MQ's ??????

[kaikohe76]

Stinky,

Thanks for this info, a considerable amount, if not all of it, makes sense to me & I can understand where you are comming from, it's a matter of getting the message over to the masses.

[Thelma Viaduct]

How exactly will they "repair the broken Military Covenant" when they would also have sent troops to fight a war based on lies??, the very issue that broke the Military Covenant in the first place

They're all the same, sh1t is sh1t no matter what colour the wrapper.

[circle kay]

on BFBS tonight:

YouTube - BritishForcesNews's Channel (http://www.youtube.com/britishforcesnews)

[A and C]

UK PLC is skint, broke , potless or what ever term you want to use whoever ends up in power you can expect a squeez on all public spending, the big problem for the readers of this forum is that they are an easy target.

The big issue is how much money will be cut from the UK defence budget not will one or other party cut spending.

Unfortunatly the place that could give real spending cuts without damage to the front line is the place that would be in charge of making spending cuts, but the MoD are hardly likely to chose to cut themselfs!

The places that I would like to see savings made would be, Defence contracts put out to more companies not the "usual suspects" who seem to charge a lot and deliver the least that they can get away with, the "elf & safety" police that spend a lot of money on the latest fad in buildings and infrastructure but compleatly ignore the front line kit because it is not part of their remit, and I would enforce defence contracts with a rod of iron as I see an attitude in the forces of "you cant win in a dispute with a contractor"............that must stop.

What I think I will see is the Puma force simply not replaced, the end of another fighter unit or two, the UAS disbanded and that is just in RAF terms I am sure the Army and Navy will be cut in the same way, what won't be cut is the big house in whitehall.

[asdaasbo]

Ban all terrorists from having beards as they look scary

Separate Passports for Terrorists: Terrorists should be required (by virtue of law) to apply for separate passports in which they give there full contact details, number of explosives, and time (as well as location) of any plot. This would save time and money in gathering intelligence, and could also help identify the intended ambition(s) behind any atrocity(s)

To keep our nation on it's toes, we should have a minimum of 2 nuclear war drills a day

All soldiers serving abroad would be issued with a long ranged laser guided water pistols

We will spend less on de-fence and more on de-gate and de-garden in general so we can all enjoy more of de-grub

[Finningley Boy]

I understand the Greens want to engage the Military Establishment more in conflict resolution and emergency humanitarian aid missions. Noble proposals. However, I 'll bet they don't quite get the whole idea of the Navy, Army and Air Force.:suspect:

FB

[RumPunch]

Well we all have 2 choices thats the simple facts

1) Spend another 4 years under Labour, over the last 13 years I have never seen the forces so depleted undermanned and so annoyed with the powers above.

2) Conservative - yes Im sure there will be not so many changes but at least the change of a new Government may give some hope for change, in the past the Tories have always looked favourable to UK defense

Im under no illusion like all we are going to get ass raped whoever is in charge , this is the decision time , do we give Gordon 4 more years or trust the new guy. I know who I am voting for :ok: