Defence Reform

Part of Opposition Day — [3rd Allotted Day] – in the House of Commons at 7:26 pm on 26 June 2012.

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Photo of Kevan Jones Kevan Jones Shadow Minister (Defence) 7:26, 26 June 2012

I thank my hon. Friend for that. Let me quote from the evidence given to the Select Committee by the former Secretary of State. In response to a question from a Member, he said:

“There is a huge ability to reduce a very large proportion of that. My guess is that of that £38 billion we are talking of something like £8 billion to £9 billion, and that is a ballpark figure.”

During that evidence session, he gave a commitment to the Select Committee Chair that he would write giving details of how he arrived at that figure, but he did not. The Committee was still waiting for that information when the report was produced, but it did not appear. I heard one of the Government Front Benchers scoff when I said that certain things move in and out of budget, but they clearly do. My hon. Friend Mrs Moon is right: the Government racked up everything in the programme over a 10-year period and assumed that it will all be delivered. That is similar to the argument used about pension black holes, the assumption being that all the money is paid out, today. That is not the way the defence procurement budget is structured.