Defence Industrial Strategy
Lord Lee of Trafford Excerpts(1 week, 4 days ago)
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Lord Coaker (Lab)
I know that the noble Lord has an opinion that not many people agree with, including me, but I appreciate that he puts it forward time and again in a respectful, calm and intellectual way. He is to be congratulated on that.
My argument to him would be this. There is a need to rearm and a defence industrial policy has to be geared towards the rearmament that needs to take place. I will give him one example, with which I know he will disagree. My premise is that it is a good thing that we are supporting Ukraine. Despite what we have been doing, with the defence industry as it was, we—not only us but other European countries—were not able to deliver the equipment necessary for Ukraine to do all that it wanted to do as easily as it could. That is a difficult, if not dangerous, position for us and our allies to be in.
I made this point at DSEI yesterday. I said that, as a Minister of State for the UK MoD, I do not want to be in a position where I believe in supporting Ukraine but read in the paper—as I did, going back probably a year—that Ukraine had had to withdraw because it did not have the necessary military equipment to continue the fight. That is not a situation we should be in. Part of dealing with that is to develop our defence industry and improve its capability and capacity, so we are not in a position where we cannot support those we would wish to support.
Lord Lee of Trafford (LD)
My Lords, I refer to my entry in the register of Members’ interests re the defence sector. As has been said, there is much to welcome in this document, but we need a full day debate on the subject. To try to rush everything in 40 minutes or so is, frankly, ridiculous and an insult to the importance of it.
There is a small number of specific questions I would like to put to the Minister. First, there is no mention in the document—I found this disappointing—of the need to reduce the bloated number of civil servants already employed by the Ministry of Defence. What plans has the Minister got to streamline defence procurement personnel? Secondly, the very important role of the new National Armaments Director is a massive job and probably will be one of the most important in the UK. What sort of salary level are we talking about to attract the top people available? Page 18 of the strategy document, on resilience and reducing supply chain vulnerabilities, talks about an additional £1.5 billion in an “always on” pipeline for munitions. Could the Minister give me an indication of how that is arrived at? Finally, and this has not been touched on at all, have hugely important production sites in the UK, such as at Barrow, that are vital to our national defence. Is any thought being given to the protection of these key sites in the deployment of anti-missile systems and similar? There is nothing that I can see in the document about this and it is something we should begin to focus on.
Lord Coaker (Lab)
I thank the noble Lord. On his first point, about personnel, and his last point, about the security of sites, this is not the only defence document. There are defence documents that deal with personnel and what we might do about that. Similarly, there are reviews concerning the security of sites, partly because of Brize Norton but partly because we recognise there is a need for investment in that. He will see, over the next few months, various announcements made about the better protection of not only industrial sites but military bases—as he will with respect to personnel. That is the point I would make: not every single thing to do with defence is in the defence industrial strategy.
The National Armaments Director pillar exists only because of the defence reform we have introduced to create four pillars within the Ministry of Defence, of which the armaments director is one. The noble Lord is right about its importance. I do not know the exact figure—I can look it up and write to him—but it is the necessary salary. I remember looking at it and thinking it was a lot of money, but that is based on my idea of what a lot a money is. I thought it appropriate, let us put it that way.
Lord Coaker (Lab)
I will put that in writing for the noble Lord.
The “always on” pipeline is about trying to ensure that we have a situation where we can always, if we need to, step up our production much more quickly, rather than be in a situation where we have to wait two years before we can do this or that. An “always on” pipeline means, in essence, that we can get the equipment and munitions we need quickly.
UK–EU Defence and Security Co-operation
Lord Lee of Trafford Excerpts(2 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Lord Lee of Trafford (LD)
My Lords, with drones increasingly revolutionising modern warfare, is it not essential that the UK and European countries collaborate and partner drone research and production, thus avoiding the wasteful duplication of each country doing its own thing, which has so bedevilled European defence procurement in recent years?
Lord Coaker (Lab)
The noble Lord makes a really good point. The issues involving drones have been one of the lessons that we have all learned with respect to the conflict in Ukraine, whether they be surveillance drones, one-way drones or any other sort of attack drone. Drones are a real weapon and resource of the future. International collaboration will therefore be vital. Anybody who visits a defence conference will see the whole range of drones that are laid out. There is a coalition, which we lead with Latvia, to streamline drone procurement with respect to what we give to Ukraine. That is a starting point, but there is more to be done. Drones will simply be something that we will all have to take account of as the battlefield of the future becomes clearer.
National Shipbuilding Strategy
Lord Lee of Trafford Excerpts(4 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Lord Coaker (Lab)
The Government are seeking to do exactly what my noble friend points out. The important point he makes is the necessity for a drumbeat: you cannot build a ship in one place and then, three years later, go back and try to build another ship; you have to have a continuous programme. The shipbuilding pipeline that has been outlined was partly intended to address that. We are already starting to see the MoD place orders for ships. I have mentioned Rosyth and the Clyde, and other shipbuilding orders are being made at various shipyards across the country. I say to my noble friend that I will be one of those advocating to make sure that, as far as possible, orders for ships required in the UK are built at British yards. I take the point he is really making, which is about the need for more ships.
Lord Lee of Trafford (LD)
My Lords, there has been a huge growth in world cruising over recent years. Can the Minister tell us why we as a country have totally failed to participate in the construction of cruise liners?
Lord Coaker (Lab)
I have to say that I am not an expert on cruise liners, but the noble Lord makes a serious point: why are we not involved in cruise liners and in various other shipbuilding projects? The answer is that we have allowed ourselves, as a country with a proud manufacturing history, to see many of these industries as the industries of the past. What we have seen happening recently has been a wake-up call for our country that these are not the industries of the past. They are the industries of now, and maybe we will see cruise liners built again in this country.
Middle East: Deployment of British Armed Forces
Lord Lee of Trafford Excerpts(1 year, 5 months ago)
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The Earl of Minto (Con)
My Lords, the noble Viscount makes a very good point, and it is something that I will talk to my colleagues about. I do not believe that the situation has changed. We have said before that when these irregular, single-point actions—which are limited, proportionate, necessary and legal—are required, we will continue to take action to protect lives, particularly in self-defence, as we did over the weekend. If that situation should change, we will certainly review the situation; we will keep the House fully involved.
Lord Lee of Trafford (LD)
My Lords, we are very fortunate to have the Foreign Secretary in our House. Indeed, it is probably the best decision that the Prime Minister has taken. It is an excellent idea that we have the Foreign Secretary here, and I hope this may be the norm in future. I hope the Labour Benches are focusing on this.
In a more serious vein, the Middle East situation is extremely serious. British forces have been involved. Surely we should now be having a major, full-day debate in this House on the Middle East, as a matter of urgency and priority, and regular debates as long as the situation continues.
The Earl of Minto (Con)
My Lords, that is something for the parliamentary scheduling people. A major debate at this point would be very useful but may take up far too much parliamentary time.
UK Armed Forces
Lord Lee of Trafford Excerpts(1 year, 6 months ago)
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The Earl of Minto (Con)
My Lords, as I have said before, and I can do no more than say again, we are faced with a lot of conflicting needs and requirements from all the different departments of Government. Looking at the level of defence spending, we are spending more in financial terms than we have ever spent before—the highest level in history—and it is increasing in real terms. It is not where we would like it to be, and I think the Prime Minister has made clear the direction of travel in which he wishes it to go.
Lord Lee of Trafford (LD)
My Lords, to say that defence expenditure will be increased to 2.5% “when economic conditions allow”, when Russia and China are massively increasing their defence expenditure and when the world is a tinder-box at the present time, is frankly totally unacceptable and a complete dereliction of national responsibility. How does the Minister react to the recent PAC report that only two of the MoD’s 46 equipment programmes are rated highly likely to be delivered on time, on budget and of high-enough quality? How does the MoD justify employing 60,000 civilians—virtually the same number as over the last five years? What do they all do, when the Army itself is only about 70,000?
The Earl of Minto (Con)
My Lords, there were a lot of questions there. On the question of the contracts, the DE&S is actually overseeing 2,600 different contracts across 550 different programmes, delivering, believe it or not, 98% of key user requirements. It achieves 90% of the strategic milestones and, contrary to public perception, and indeed to perception within this House, it delivers well to budget.
809 Naval Air Squadron
Lord Lee of Trafford Excerpts(1 year, 6 months ago)
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Lord Lee of Trafford (LD)
My Lords, in 2022 the then Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace, told the International Relations and Defence Select Committee that the RAF training programme was “lacking” and
“not in the place I would like it to be”.
Apparently, at that stage we had only 30 British pilots who could fly the F35s. Has the situation improved? How many pilots have we got at present who can fly the F35s? Can he also please tell us what aircraft are currently deployed in the Falklands?
The Earl of Minto (Con)
My Lords, on the number of pilots going through training, as I have said, the Lightning Force continues to grow its pilot numbers and graduate additional pilots in the operational conversion unit in line with the planned force growth. The pilots are in training. I will write to the noble Lord and let him know exactly how many pilots we have available at the moment. His second question was about the Falklands. My understanding is that there are four Typhoon FGR4s based in the Falklands and a Voyager tanker based at Mount Pleasant in the South Atlantic.
AUKUS
Lord Lee of Trafford Excerpts(1 year, 6 months ago)
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Lord Lee of Trafford (LD)
My Lords, I draw attention to my shareholdings as in the register, particularly in the Potteries-based Goodwin plc, which is a major supplier of castings to the US and UK submarine programmes.
Parallel to AUKUS Australia is, pleasingly, spending $7.25 billion to increase its number of combat vessels from 11 to 26. It intends shortly to sign a “very significant” defence co-operation agreement with Indonesia. Is the Minister aware of this and could he comment?
Perhaps the Minister could also comment on the capacity of Barrow, its expansion physically and the workforce there. Our submarine-building programme has been characterised by cost and time overruns. Have any comparisons been made with the United States, in the sense that there are possible lessons to be learned? Can he also tell us what the current manning level of our existing submarines is, and are there any plans to increase the number of submariners?
Is there a concern that a percentage of the workforce in Barrow may well emigrate to Australia? No doubt, Barrow has many attractions, but Australia is of course somewhat warmer. How many Australian military and civilians are embedded with the Royal Navy or are on any sites? Pillar 2 talks of deep space advanced radar capability. Are there going to be any new United Kingdom radar sites?
Finally, Goodwin raised two matters with me. First, the United States orders submarines in blocks and is in the process of procuring materials and components for the next 17 under one purchase order, with obvious savings. The United Kingdom, Goodwin tells me, tends to purchase for each boat separately. Larger and longer purchase orders for AUKUS would be beneficial. Secondly, forgings are mission-critical to submarine construction. United Kingdom forging suppliers are buying ingots from eastern Europe, with obvious negative implications. Goodwin tells me that can supply ingots here. Perhaps the Minister can look into this United Kingdom opportunity.
Conventional Weapon Stocks: Expenditure
Lord Lee of Trafford Excerpts(1 year, 7 months ago)
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Lord Lee of Trafford (LD)
My Lords, has the Minister discovered the underground ostrich room deep in the Ministry of Defence? It churns out complacent ministerial briefs and Answers to Questions telling us that all is well: no procurement black holes, enough ships to meet operational needs, and recruiting and housing improving. Last July, the Commons Defence Committee report said:
“We have discovered a UK procurement system which is highly bureaucratic, overly stratified, far too ponderous, with an inconsistent approach to safety, very poor accountability and a culture which appears institutionally averse to individual responsibility”.
Can the Minister say what improvements and changes, if any, have been made, and whether the MoD really needs to employ 60,000 civilians—which is virtually the same size as our Army?
The Earl of Minto (Con)
I thank the noble Lord for that question. There are a few feathers lying around in some of the rooms in the Ministry of Defence because one thing that the disaster in Ukraine has meant is that the speed with which effective procurement needs to be undertaken has really shaken a few things up. There have been occasions where—it has not happened in the past—specification has been compromised for availability. That is a very good indication that things are starting to move.
King’s Speech
Lord Lee of Trafford Excerpts(1 year, 10 months ago)
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Lord Lee of Trafford (LD)
My Lords, my focus today has to be on Gaza. To understand Israeli reaction to the vile and barbaric 7 October attack by Hamas, we have to multiply the numbers killed and taken hostage by seven—the differential in our respective populations. How would we react if we lost 8,500 killed and 1,700 taken hostage? But one has to keep a cool head, carefully think through the form and degree of retaliation, and have an exit plan.
A humiliated and vengeful Netanyahu is hardly that cool head. In an interview reported in last Saturday’s Times, former Prime Minister Ehud Barak says of Netanyahu:
“He used to say that whoever wants to block the possibility of two states has to support our policy of strengthening Hamas, keeping them alive and kicking, even bribing them. Can I call it protection money?”
Barak also calls Netanyahu’s coalition partners “racist, messianic crazies”—the extremist coalition that has empowered and armed the zealot settlers in the West Bank and provided army support for their expansionist aggression.
Israel called up reservists—my own cousin in Israel has three sons; one is in the regular forces, and two have been called up—and launched an attack to eliminate Hamas once and for all. But we must ask whether this can realistically be achieved. Having spent years constructing a vast network of tunnels, unquestionably using funds meant for Palestinian welfare, it is well prepared and dug in, certainly below schools, mosques and hospitals. Key Hamas leaders are living abroad, and many fighters will have dispersed into the wider population. Yes, Israel will massively degrade Hamas and destroy much weaponry and infrastructure, but I fear it will live on, augmented by new revengeful recruits following Israel’s military actions, with its ideology of destroying Israel continuing.
However, I have to say that I am appalled at the scale and ferocity of Israeli bombing and shelling. In war there is always collateral damage, of course, but 10,000-plus targets in a densely populated territory the size of the Isle of Wight has wrought sickening bloodshed and destruction, and has probably, sadly, killed some hostages as well.
Israel has cut off to the wider population food, water, medical supplies and fuel that could have been delivered safely by the UN or similar. Hamas will surely have stockpiled in tunnels. Had Israel been clever, she would have increased such supplies and certainly guaranteed them in relation to an agreed release of hostages, which is absolutely vital.
I believe a ceasefire is now a must for three reasons: first, to negotiate and as a condition for the release of all hostages; secondly, to avoid further loss of innocent lives; and, thirdly, to avoid giving Hezbollah cause to significantly enter the conflict, an action that would certainly bring about severe Israeli fatalities and destruction. We should then seek to establish an Arab-led UN-type peace force to stabilise the situation, giving Israel security guarantees and, within Gaza, providing reconstruction direction and perhaps in time some form of democratic process and statehood.
In a very recent Chatham House paper, Rear Admiral Lionel Jarvis, a former surgeon-general of the Royal Navy, argues for a UN-led fleet of hospital ships. The US has two 1,000-bed vessels, and we have the RFA “Argus”, with a 100-bed facility, in the Mediterranean at the moment. I ask for the Minister’s thoughts on this possibility and on offering assistance via “Argus”.
On wider defence matters, I have four specific questions for the Minister; he may well want to write to me. Has it been decided who will pay for the repairs on the “Prince of Wales”? How far below target are our Reserve Forces? Media speculation suggests that Germany and Saudi Arabia might participate in the Tempest fighter programme; are talks taking place? BAE Systems has indicated its intention to develop a weapons manufacture and repair facility in Ukraine; will the Government part fund this? Finally, on Ukraine, we must continue and increase support for her courageous fight; this must not become the forgotten war.
Armed Forces
Lord Lee of Trafford Excerpts(2 years ago)
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Lord Lee of Trafford (LD)
My Lords, Ben Wallace, in his recent resignation letter, said:
“The Ministry of Defence is back on the path to being once again world class with world class people”.
Well, certainly, some world-class people and units, but hardly world-class procurement or use of manpower. On procurement, the recent Defence Select Committee report in July was scathing:
“We have discovered a UK procurement system which is highly bureaucratic, overly stratified, far too ponderous, with an inconsistent approach to safety, very poor accountability and a culture which appears institutionally averse to individual responsibility. We agree with the previous conclusions of the Public Accounts Committee from November 2021 that our procurement system is indeed ‘broken’. We believe the system is now in need of major, comprehensive reform”.
Turning to manning levels, in a Written Answer to me in June, the noble Baroness disclosed that 28% of combined military and civilian personnel were civilian—in other words, 60,000. Indeed, over the last five years, that number has risen from 58,000, despite a reduction in service personnel, a reduction in bases and major advances in communication systems such as videoconferencing. It is difficult to think of any other similar large employer that has not reduced headcount during this period. Compared with our 28%, the figure in France is only 23%. So is it not time to bring in a very senior and experienced external team to look at our procurement processes and seemingly bloated civilian manning levels? I do not believe that the MoD can or will do the necessary itself. The Defence Select Committee looked at Israel, admittedly a more modern nation starting from scratch. It noted:
“The Israeli system, which places a premium on efficient use of manpower, by effective use of contractors, manages to achieve similar outcomes … but with far fewer people”.
Turning to resources and defence priorities, I expect virtually all participants in today’s debate to support increased defence spending given our very dangerous world, with so many flashpoints apart, of course, from the appalling conflict in Ukraine. But, in a nation that has lived above its means for years, all departments argue for more spend. Thus we must ruthlessly focus on defence priorities and, sadly and inevitably, employment considerations writ large. Would Gordon Brown have given approval for our new carriers were Scottish jobs not involved? Should we really be planning the next generation of manned fighter aircraft given the rapid growth of unmanned vehicles in the air and at sea? I suggest that we have been behind the curve in the development of UAVs, well behind the USA and Israel, probably also Turkey and maybe even Iran. Just look at drone usage in Ukraine. Are we building up our capability and stocks as fast as we should? Where to spend defence cash is never easy. Looking back, I do not criticise the decision to reduce our tank numbers. It was not an unreasonable assumption that a major European land war was very unlikely. Who foresaw a Russian invasion say five years ago?
On Ukraine, we have to stay the course however long it may be. We are hugely impressed and humbled by the spirit of the Ukrainian people and the bravery of their forces, and perhaps there should also be a word of sympathy for young Russians press-ganged into a war against their will. I hope that one day there will be some form of negotiated peace. If Ukraine is understandably opposed to ceding any territory in a negotiation, perhaps a stay on Ukraine’s NATO membership might be sensible for a limited period, if only as a sop to Russia.
Finally, I have three or four specific questions for the Minister. First, what percentage of our Armed Forces currently receive an annual dental check? Secondly, who will pay for the repairs to HMS “Prince of Wales”? If it is the MoD, why? Thirdly, what plans can she talk about to build up our reserves, given the embarrassing comparisons made by the noble Lord, Lord Lancaster, a little earlier? Finally, can she give an indication of the number of F35s currently in service and the number on order?