Queen's Speech

Lord Astor of Hever Excerpts

Wednesday 26th May 2010 Lords Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Astor of Hever)]

My Lords, it gives me great pleasure to close this excellent debate—my first as Under-Secretary of State for Defence in this House. This is a huge honour. Noble Lords should have no doubt that I, as a former soldier, will do my utmost to support the Armed Forces from all services. I am always ready to listen to the advice from defence experts—which this House has in abundance—that has been offered to me by noble, and noble and gallant, Lords from all parts of the House during my six years as shadow Defence Minister. My doors are open to all noble Lords from all quarters of the House. I particularly look forward to working with the noble Baroness, Lady Dean, and with my noble friend Lord Lyell, who ran the All-Party Defence Group so efficiently.

I am sure that I speak for the whole House in also recognising the exceptional job at our Armed Forces do, wherever they are in the world, on behalf of our nation. Tragically, our people sometimes make the ultimate sacrifice. Tonight, I humbly offer the condolences of the whole House to the family and friends of Corporal Stephen Walker from 40 Commando Royal Marines, serving as part of Combined Force Sangin, who was killed in an explosion on 21 May. Corporal Walker was conducting a joint foot patrol with the Afghan National Army to reassure, and improve security for, the local population. It is also with great sadness that I report that a soldier from 4th Regiment Royal Artillery was killed this morning in Afghanistan.

I will say something about the noble Baroness, Lady Taylor of Bolton. She left office with the admiration of the whole House, and has served this country well over many years. I have always admired her wealth of experience and her ability to make the most complicated issues accessible to all noble Lords. The noble Baroness will be a very hard act to follow. I also pay tribute to the noble Lord, Lord Drayson, for the innovations that he brought to equipping and supporting our Armed Forces. I also pay tribute to the noble Lord, Lord Tunnicliffe, who often stood in for defence Ministers at the Dispatch Box and did a very good job, as did my noble friend Lord Lee of Trafford, formerly the Liberal Democrat defence spokesman. I was always full of admiration for my noble friend and he always seemed to ask the questions that I wished I had thought of.

Finally, I am sure that the whole House will want to join me in wishing Black Rod well after his recent stroke. He took a great interest in defence issues in this House, and I know that he would have wanted to be here for a lot of today’s debate.

I should like to focus on Afghanistan and our plans for a much needed Strategic Defence and Security Review. We are in Afghanistan out of necessity, not choice. Let us be clear: our mission in Afghanistan is vital for our national security; it is vital for the security of the region as a whole; and it is vital for global stability. It was in Afghanistan that the attacks of 9/11 were planned. We must not allow Afghanistan to be used again as a safe haven for terrorists or a launch pad for attacks on this country or those of our allies. Earlier today, as the noble Baroness, Lady Taylor, said, I laid a Written Ministerial Statement before this House, which sets out recent changes to the command arrangements to enable ISAF to make optimal use of the increased forces now deploying in southern Afghanistan. As the noble Baroness, Lady Taylor, said, the international coalition has a mandate from the United Nations, and 46 different countries are now providing forces.

As the Foreign Secretary has set out in the other place, our national objective in Afghanistan is to help Afghans to reach the point where they can look after their own security without presenting a danger to the rest of the world. Therein lies their security and ours. That is why the counterinsurgency strategy devised by General McChrystal last year is rightly focused on the Afghan people. Over the past two years, the authority of the Afghan Government has been extended from six to 11 of the 13 provinces in Helmand.

The training that the Afghan security forces are receiving will, over time, enable the transition of lead security responsibility from NATO’s mission to the Government of Afghanistan, starting in some parts of the country at the end of this year or early next year. This is part of a wider political strategy, including anti-corruption measures, improvements in governance and economic development, that will then allow us to bring our forces home. The Government remain committed to doing so as quickly as possible, but only when the time is right and not to some arbitrary deadline. To achieve this, the Government of Afghanistan as a whole must have the capacity to maintain a more stable and safer state. The Afghan national security forces must be able to stand firm on their own against the enemies of their Government. That means building the capabilities and confidence of the Afghan Government at a national and local level to bring leadership. That is where our comprehensive approach can be applied most effectively. By drawing on the skills across government, such as political understanding, reconciliation and development, a comprehensive approach is able to offer a more tailored response to the complex problems in Afghanistan. One thing is certain. Through their courage and bravery, our Armed Forces have dealt a severe blow to the Taliban-led insurgents and the terrorist networks supporting them.

I now turn to the Government’s defence policy. My noble friend Lord Howell opened this debate with an explanation of the underpinning of the active, hard-headed and practical foreign and security policy that the new Government will implement. This is the dawn of a new era for our defence policy. It is about acting in Britain’s national interest to shape the world, not just be shaped by it. The security environment can change rapidly. I have already mentioned that we face an increasingly diverse range of global security challenges. Keeping al-Qaeda out of Afghanistan is just one part of the campaign against international terrorism. Working closely with the Government of Pakistan to tackle extremism and its underlying causes in the border regions is another. We face many enduring and emerging threats. Iran and North Korea are examples of the former and cyber warfare is an example of a threat that is only now emerging. That is why the priority for our defence policy will be the strategic defence and security review.

As the noble Baroness agreed, defence cannot be immune from the economic realities that we as a country face. The noble Lord, Lord Owen, said that we face difficulties. All defence programmes, including equipment, will need to demonstrate their value for money, but we should use the difficult challenges to grasp the opportunity of radical thinking and reform. Let me reassure noble Lords that the SDSR will be a strategic, cross-government and comprehensive exercise overseen by the newly formed National Security Council to provide a coherent approach to security. We have to ensure that we have the right balance of resources to meet our commitments so that our service men and women have what they need to do what we ask of them. As a nation we have a responsibility to give our Armed Forces our full support in return for the selfless service and sacrifice they are prepared to make in our name.

Our objective is to double the operational allowance of those serving in Afghanistan and we are discussing how rest and recuperation leave can be maximised. We place great emphasis on giving a high priority to anyone suffering from enduring health problems as a result of service, particularly those with serious injuries and mental health problems. We will deal with the invisible wounds of war as well as the visible ones. We must make sure that every penny spent on defence counts.

I shall turn to some of the questions asked today. Some very important issues have been raised and there is no way that I can answer all of them, but both myself and my noble friend Lord Howell will do our very best. The noble Baroness, Lady Kinnock, asked about our commitment to spend 0.7 per cent on development aid. This Government are fully committed to achieving from 2013 the UN target of spending 0.7 per cent of GNI on overseas aid and we will enshrine this commitment in law. That was made clear in last week’s coalition agreement. Locking in our commitment on aid is both morally right and in our national interest. It will place our country in a position of clear international leadership and we will encourage other countries to live up to their commitment. Value for money will be central to everything that we do. DfID will use the power of independent evaluation, transparency and a focus on results to drive a step change in the effectiveness of the UK’s aid efforts.

The noble Baroness, Lady Symons, asked about aid to China. DfID’s bilateral trade programme is planned to end by March next year and we will review which other countries should get UK aid and focus more on the poorest.

I can confirm to the noble Baroness that my noble friend Lady Verma is the international development spokeswoman in this House. I can also confirm that French co-operation has not disappeared. At the risk of disappointing the noble Lord, Lord Gilbert, interesting discussions are taking place at a very high level with our French friends. I have some good news for the noble Lord, Lord Gilbert: the seventh C17 will go ahead with an in-service date of March next year.

The noble Baroness also asked me about NATO. Of course, NATO is the cornerstone of our defence policy. My noble friend Lord Lee asked me when the 25 per cent reduction in MoD running costs will be achieved. We are committed to that reduction and work is ongoing on how it will be implemented. With regard to Trident, the Government remain committed to the maintenance of the nuclear deterrent. However, as announced by the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister, that will be scrutinised for value for money.

The noble and gallant Lord, Lord Craig, stressed the vital importance of effective control of the air. Clearly, that is vital to any military operation and the whole issue will be looked at very closely in the SDR—which, to answer the noble and gallant Lord’s question, will report by the end of this year.

My noble friend Lord Jopling asked who will replace Geoff Hoon on the Albright Commission. My understanding is that the commission has just completed its report, so he will not need replacing. My noble friend also asked about our position on the WEU. In March this year, the previous Government gave notice that the UK intended to leave the WEU. The following day, all attendant member states of the WEU agreed that we would move together towards closure in June next year. There is no longer any justification for paying the cost of a separate organisation such as the WEU given that there is now clear EU agreement that NATO has responsibility for collective defence. In the interim, there will be a period of consultation on the important issue of continued effective inter-parliamentary scrutiny of EU defence issues, on which we will engage fully with Parliament.

The noble Baroness, Lady Dean, asked whether the Army will increase by three battalions. That issue will be considered in the SDSR, and I would not wish to prejudge the outcome of the review. She also asked from where the money to double the operational allowance will come. It has been the practice for the operational allowance to be funded from the Treasury reserve. Detailed eligibility criteria are still being worked out.

My noble friend Lord Luke asked about the Chinook helicopters. Do we have enough; are the Mark III helicopters now in service; and when will the additional 22 be deployed to Afghanistan? We have constantly improved helicopter capability. Since 2006, we have almost doubled the number of battlefield helicopters and have seen flying hours increase by 140 per cent. The first aircraft from the Mark III conversion programme has already been delivered for training purposes, and a further five will be delivered by the end of the year. We expect to start taking delivery of the additional 22 Chinooks in 2013. Their deployment to Afghanistan is a matter for military commanders.

My noble friend also asked about the carriers. The expected in-service date for HMS “Queen Elizabeth” is 2016 and for HMS “Prince of Wales” 2018. The approved forecast cost is £5.2 billion. So far, equipment sub-contracts have been placed to the value of £1.2 billion.

My noble friend Lord Burnett gave a good example of the successful projection of power by a carrier, albeit some time ago. There is no doubt that the arrival of HMS “Bulwark” and the Royal Marines aboard her played a big part in restoring peace to Hong Kong during the difficult time of the cultural revolution.

The noble Baroness, Lady Flather, asked about maternal and reproductive health and maternal mortality. We will put women at the centre of DfID’s aid programme and will ensure that they are given choices so that they can decide for themselves whether and when to have children. Investing in family planning is one of the most effective development interventions and the most cost-effective way to reduce maternal mortality. It is an international development priority for this Government.

The noble Lords, Lord Chidgey and Lord St John of Bletso, asked about aid effectiveness, accountability, transparency and value for money. DfID is committed to ensuring independent evaluation of aid effectiveness and transparent accountability for the British taxpayer on achieving value for money for development aid. These will be key responsibilities of the new independent aid watchdog. The new watchdog will strengthen independence and accountability and, as a result, ensure increased value for money from British aid.

These are challenging times for foreign affairs, international development and, particularly, defence. The Prime Minister visited the Ministry of Defence this morning and was candid that the period ahead will be exhausting. Afghanistan, the strategic defence and security review, how we equip and support our Armed Forces and how we look after their welfare, their families’ welfare and veterans add up to a huge amount of critical work. He acknowledged that his title includes First Lord of the Treasury, but he also reminded us that nothing is more important than the defence of the realm, a point that was echoed by my noble friend Lord Sterling. That speaks volumes for the priority that this Government place on defence and on supporting our Armed Forces.

Debate adjourned until tomorrow.