Armed Forces (Redundancies) Debate

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Department: Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces (Redundancies)

Ben Wallace Excerpts
Tuesday 15th February 2011

(13 years, 10 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Liam Fox Portrait Dr Fox
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Not only is my hon. Friend correct, but the debt interest repayment that the country will have next year is bigger than the MOD budget, the Foreign Office budget and the overseas aid budget combined. What was shocking today was the fact that there were no regrets and no remorse, just naked self-interest from the Opposition.

Ben Wallace Portrait Mr Ben Wallace (Wyre and Preston North) (Con)
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When I was serving in the armed forces under the previous Government, colleagues of mine were given their redundancy notices while serving on the front line in Bosnia. That was not by mistake or leaked e-mail; it was an entirely deliberate process carried out by the Labour Government. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the phoney anger from those on the Labour Benches is designed to cover the fact that they left the MOD in a state of overspend, underfunding and complete chaos?

Liam Fox Portrait Dr Fox
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I think that in the months ahead we will see a number of ingenious smokescreens created by the Opposition to make the House discuss anything other than the appalling economic mess that they left behind—not least as it impacts on our armed forces.