Armed Forces (Redundancies) Debate

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Department: Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces (Redundancies)

Greg Hands Excerpts
Tuesday 15th February 2011

(13 years, 2 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Liam Fox Portrait Dr Fox
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The whole of the SDSR was predicated on success in Afghanistan. Nothing that has happened in respect of any announcements made by the Army, the Navy or the Air Force will impact on our operations in Afghanistan. They remain the priority for the Ministry of Defence and the Government.

Greg Hands Portrait Greg Hands (Chelsea and Fulham) (Con)
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Even the previous Government, who were notoriously slack on controlling spending, made the MOD one of three Government Departments that were put into special measures. Does my right hon. Friend agree that all MOD redundancies need to be understood in the context of a Government and a Department where spending was rampant and out of control?

Liam Fox Portrait Dr Fox
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It is no secret that when this Government came to office, not only did we inherit generic economic incompetence, but inside the Ministry of Defence there was a specifically difficult case. I shall set out in the near future measures for achieving better control over the MOD budget, not least in real time.