Armed forces cuts prompt defence committee concerns

Cuts to the UK's armed forces may leave them unable to fulfil required tasks after 2015, a report by MPs has warned.

The Commons defence committee rejected the prime minister's assurance of a "full spectrum" defence capability.
The committee warned that without firm commitments to improved funding in the very near future, politicians risked "failing" the country's military.

Defence Secretary Liam Fox said the idea that the military was not being funded for its role was "not true".
'Wish list' Last year's strategic defence and security review (SDSR) outlined the future shape and size of the UK's armed forces.
It said Army numbers were to be reduced by 7,000, and the Royal Navy and RAF by 5,000 each.
And it saw the cancellation of equipment including Nimrod MRA4 reconnaissance planes and the early withdrawal of HMS Ark Royal and Harrier jump-jets.
The committee said the National Security Strategy, also unveiled last autumn, was in danger of becoming no more than a "wish list" unless the necessary money was committed to deliver the future armed forces envisaged for 2020 and beyond.
Last month it was announced that spending on equipment would increase by 1% above inflation each year after 2015, to pave the way for the so-called Future Force 2020.
However, the committee said it was "not convinced that, given the current financial climate and the drawdown of capabilities arising from the SDSR, UK armed forces will be able do what is asked of them after 2015".

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Defence Secretary Liam Fox says the government plans to ''reshape and rebalance'' the armed forces

It noted "mounting concern" that the military was falling below the minimum capacity needed to fulfil current commitments, let alone tasks it may face between 2015 and 2020, when ministers acknowledge there will be "capability gaps".
And it said plans to increase funding after 2015 were merely "government aspiration, not government policy".
The committee urged the government to outline its plans to manage the gap left by the loss of certain capabilities, and lay out detailed plans for their regeneration.
Committee chairman James Arbuthnot said: "If the ambition of a real-term funding increase is not realised, we will have failed our armed forces."
He warned that failure to maintain spending on the armed forces put the UK's influence in the world at risk.
"The government appears to believe that the UK can maintain its influence while reducing spending in defence and at the Foreign Office," said Mr Arbuthnot.

He said MPs on the committee "do not agree" with this.

'Real budgets' But Mr Fox rejected the accusation that the UK risked failing its military.
The defence secretary said: "We have set out real plans with real budgets, quite different from the previous government, and that will enable us to continue to invest in the defence capabilities we require in the years ahead.
"When we have asked the military to do more, for example in Libya, excess funding is available and we are able to take that from the Treasury Reserve.
"That does not come from the core MoD budget. And so the idea that we are asking the military to do things without funding simply isn't true."
However, shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy said the report was "damning".
"The rushed defence review has been much criticised, but now those who were disappointed will be dismayed and the anxious will be angry," he said.
"The capability gaps and budgetary black hole left by the rushed defence review have limited Britain's reach in the world."
'Rightly assessed' The UK's most senior military officer, Chief of the Defence Staff General Sir David Richards, said "some tough decisions" had to be taken and the UK "will remain a formidable fighting force on the world stage".

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General Sir Nick Houghton said it was ''necessary to cut one's cloth...so that we do not overstretch ourselves''

"We are continually working with our international allies to share operational requirements," he said, which are "measures we rightly assessed in the SDSR could be relied upon to mitigate capability gaps".
General Sir Nick Houghton, Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff, said the report was "quite well balanced and quite constructive," adding that he did not feel there had been "scathing criticisms".
He said there had simply been "quite a lot of serious constructive counsel" in the report.
And, when asked about concerns that the UK's stature would diminish as a result of the cuts, he said: "We will remain the fourth biggest defence spending country."
In May, senior military figures voiced fears of the impact the SDSR would have on the UK's standing.
The heads of the Army, Royal Navy and RAF told the Commons defence committee that the UK could no longer aspire to the "full spectrum" of military capabilities in its wake.

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