King’s Speech

Baroness Fraser of Craigmaddie Excerpts

Thursday 21st May 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Fraser of Craigmaddie (Con)]

My Lords, while major defence programmes dominate the headlines, we risk overlooking more cost-effective ways to strengthen Britain’s resilience and warfighting readiness: investing in our Reserve Forces and logistics support services. Tanks, ships, aircraft and drones may capture the attention, but none of them can operate without trained people to sustain and support them. Credible deterrence depends not only on equipment but depth, readiness and resilience.

Ukraine’s ability to draw rapidly on trained reservists at the outset of the Russian invasion illustrates the need for the UK to rebuild military depth and widen participation across society. While the Armed Forces Bill seeks to expand the reserves pool, it focuses largely on the strategic reserves and fails to address deeper structural problems. Reservists remain only partially integrated into wider defence planning. I declare an interest that my daughter is a serving reservist officer.

Training opportunities are inconsistent, access to MoD facilities is limited and poor budget management leaves times of the year when reservists are unsure whether they will even be paid for their duties. Communication failures make it difficult to balance civilian careers with military commitments, forcing many eventually to choose one or the other.

This is particularly concerning given that, despite the SDR’s commitment to increase the active reserve by 20%, both numbers and service days continue to fall. Reviews have repeatedly identified the same shortcomings—including the work by my noble friend Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton—yet little meaningful action has followed. The Government still lack a clear delivery plan, dedicated funding and even a proper understanding of the skills currently available within the Reserve Forces.

If the Government are serious about strengthening the reserves, they must go beyond simply extending recall ages or service length. We should look to allies that integrate reservists far more effectively: KLM pilots who also fly Dutch F35s and the US Air National Guard, which operates front-line aircraft, as well as Scandinavian and Baltic nations, where reserves often outnumber regular forces. Many of us believe that the UK should aim to double the size of the reserves, but that requires clear cross-government understanding of the role that reservists are expected to play.

The same lack of attention affects the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. Like the reserves alongside the regulars, the RFA often plays second fiddle to the Royal Navy, despite being indispensable to it. Royal Navy operations rely on the RFA for fuel, ammunition, aviation support, medical assistance, supplies and amphibious capability. Without the RFA, the Royal Navy’s global reach would be severely restrained. The Minister himself has described the RFA as essential, yet the service continues to face mounting pressures. Its fleet is ageing, procurement delays persist, and several vessels require extensive modernisation and repair. At the same time, personnel shortages are worsening. For the second time in two years, RFA crews are staging strike action over pay and conditions. Temporary settlements have failed to resolve concerns about below-average pay awards, poor transparency and declining morale.

RFA personnel occupy an especially difficult position. Technically MoD civil servants, they are nevertheless expected to spend increasing amounts of time at sea, undergoing demanding operational tasks. They are, in effect, the Royal Navy’s blue light emergency service—but operating with ageing equipment and insufficient recognition. It even remains unclear whether the Armed Forces covenant extends to the RFA. This matters because the RFA is central to the future of naval operations. It is the RFA “Lyme Bay” that is being sent to the Middle East. Currently being readied in Gibraltar, the ship, once upgraded, will be able to deploy and recover autonomous systems, underwater drones and mine-hunting vessels, acting as a mother ship for uncrewed technology. As the First Sea Lord observed, this is a perfect example of the “hybrid” Royal Navy the UK hopes to build.

However, advanced technology alone cannot compensate for workforce instability and underinvestment. Settling industrial disputes, improving retention policies and creating clearer career progression incentives are all essential, and so too is properly aligning the RFA with the UK’s wider defence strategy. The Reserve Forces and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary are two indispensable pillars of Britain’s defence capability, yet both are undervalued and unloved. If we are serious about delivering the ambitions of the SDR and restoring genuine warfighting readiness, we must invest not only in platforms and hardware but in the people and support structures that make military power possible. It is time to give the reserves and the RFA the love they deserve.