MP says lessons of history need to be learnt
During Defence Questions today in the House of Commons, John Baron MP questioned the Government over defence spending. John’s recent article on the need for higher defence spending is online at: http://goo.gl/nvX5CI.
In the Chamber, John asked,
“Events such as Crimea and in the South China Sea remind us of the value of strong defence. Has the time not now come to significantly increase spending on our Armed Forces, even if it means the sacrifice of white elephants such as HS2? We may have the fourth or fifth highest defence budget, but we rank closer to 30th as to the number of troops we can deploy. This is a nonsense given our global interests.”
The Minister for the Armed Forces, Rt Hon Mark Francois MP, responded by saying the question should be better posed to the Treasury.
John said afterwards,
“Recent developments have shown that countries not necessarily friendly to the West are not only increasing their defence spending, but are becoming bolder in deploying their forces. This is significant. History suggests lessons need to be learnt –complacency could cost us dear.”
Ends
Word Count: 201
Date: 17th March 2014
Notes to Editors:
- John served in the Army in the 1980s.
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