PM must heed warning by armed forces chief over defence cuts, says Rifkind

 
Sir Malcolm Rifkind said the PM needed to listen to warnings over Cuts
19 December 2013
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A former Tory defence secretary today backed the head of the armed forces in warning that cuts risked leaving the UK with a “hollow force”.

Sir Malcolm Rifkind, who chairs the well-connected Security and Intelligence Committee, said David Cameron should listen “very carefully” to the warning by General Sir Nicholas Houghton against further manpower cuts.

In a hard-hitting speech last night, Sir Nicholas said the Army, Navy and RAF risked being left with “exquisite” equipment but not enough soldiers, sailors and airmen to operate it.

Addressing the Royal United Services Institute military think tank, he said the Navy was “perilously close” to breaking point.

“Unattended, our current course leads to a strategically incoherent force structure — exquisite equipment, but insufficient resources to man that equipment or train,” he said. “It is what the Americans call the spectre of the ‘hollow force’.

“We are not there yet, but across defence I would identify the Royal Navy as being perilously close to its critical mass in manpower terms.”

Sir Malcolm, who served as defence secretary and foreign secretary, said ministers should consider reversing some cuts to personnel. “If there is a case — and I think there is a very good case — to improve manpower, particularly in the Navy, I very much hope the government will give very careful consideration to what he said,” he said.

Admiral Sir George Zambellas, the head of the Royal Navy, said in a statement that his service was under “significant manpower pressure” but insisted it was “fully ready to meet the challenge”.

The row came as David Cameron set off for a European summit where he planned to block EU moves for it to take a bigger military role.

The French want to launch a permanent fund to finance armed action and there are suggestions that the EU might operate its own drone aircraft or pool air-to-air refuelling capabilities.

Mr Cameron made clear in advance of the two-day talks that he sees the proposals as a threat to national sovereignty over defence matters.

Leaked draft conclusions suggest that Mr Cameron will win the day, with support from Germany.

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