My Lords, we hope to improve on that. Being a relative newcomer to the Ministry of Defence, I do not have the benefit of the noble Earl's experience of history. However, in my short time at the Ministry of Defence, I have picked up that throughout the army there is a recognition of the need to modernise. I want to stress that there is a duty of care to make sure that the structure of the forces is designed to meet the challenges that they will face—something that is widely respected.

With regard to the ability to talk to each other in future, I have seen the way in which our forces have become world class on that. The interoperability of RAF pilots, Navy pilots, marines, soldiers and personnel from the Royal Navy that you see when you go on HMS "Illustrious" is admirable. We have that strength with our Armed Forces, on which we want to build. The future Army structure would not be possible if that attitude did not prevail today.