With the wider news agenda focusing on the EU Referendum, other articles report on defence spending and the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, with Prince Charles to unveil a new memorial at the site.
Defence spending
The Times reports that George Osborne will meet with Britain's top generals today in an attempt to avert a public row over defence spending. The paper reports that the Chancellor will try to bind the military group including, the paper says, the Chief of Defence Staff, more closely to his plan to find more savings and push civil servants harder to identify cuts from the military budget before the spending review in the autumn. The piece references claims that Mr Osborne has “no intention” of breaking the NATO commitment to 2% but that by “not committing to it, he has a useful way of putting pressure on the military to find more savings”. The article says Mr Osborne will sympathise with the need to protect frontline troops but will make clear that he believes there are areas to be trimmed. It says he is also aware the race to succeed CDS Sir Nicholas Houghton has begun.
The government’s position on defence spending, which has been quoted widely, is as follows:
With the second largest Defence budget in NATO and the largest in the EU, the Government is committed to spending 2% of GDP on Defence this financial year. Decisions on spending beyond that will be determined in the next Spending Review. As with other NATO member states, from time to time we make updates to how we categorise defence spending. All updates, including spend on peacekeeping, remain fully in accordance with NATO guidelines. This Government was elected with a mandate to maintain the size of regular armed forces, to increase the equipment budget in real terms every year, and to renew our four nuclear ballistic submarines. These commitments will shape the power of our Armed Forces and keep Britain safe.
Royal Navy Submariner
The Daily Telegraph reports that the “Trident whistleblower” who said that the nuclear deterrent was dangerously unsafe and insecure has been “thrown out” of the Royal Navy. The article says Able Seaman William McNeilly will not face court martial, but has been discharged as his “services are no longer required”. After serving on HMS Victorious earlier this year, the 25-year-old claimed Trident is “a disaster waiting to happen”. Our line was issued to The Telegraph but is only carries in part, the full statement can be seen below. The Times also briefly reports that he has left the navy.
A Royal Navy spokesperson, said:
We can confirm that Able Seaman McNeilly has left the Naval Service the details of which are a matter for the individual and his employer. Throughout the process he was afforded the duty of care that we give all our personnel, as was his family.
Our Armed Forces take security extremely seriously, and when an individual shows a willingness to breach trust, declares beliefs incompatible with Service employment, or ignores the opportunities to voice concerns through the Chain of Command, there must be consideration of whether their employment should continue.
A400M
A number of outlets report that the Airbus A400M has resumed flying following a crash near Seville last month.
The first RAF A400M took off from RAF Brize Norton yesterday following the investigation into the cause of the crash in Spain. Our position on the situation and an image of the take-off can be seen below.
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson, said:
Having undertaken and completed a series of thorough checks on the UK’s A400M aircraft and how it is operated, we are now satisfied that the additional processes and procedures introduced means it is now safe for the RAF to resume flying. Ground and simulator training has continued during the flying pause, and crews will now be able to resume live training on the aircraft with immediate effect.
HMS Bulwark
Several outlets report on Home Secretary Theresa May’s comments yesterday warning that the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean is “reaching our boarders” and calling for the tens of thousands of migrants to be forcibly sent back to Africa as a deterrent. Many of the papers make reference to HMS Bulwark, the British warship that has rescued 2,700 migrants. The Daily Telegraph reports that the MOD confirmed Bulwark is due to leave the Mediterranean in three weeks. The Daily Mirror says HMS Bulwark’s deployment ends in July and “the MOD said no decision had been made on whether to keep the ship in the area”. The Daily Mail writes that Britain and a number of other member states are refusing to take part in plans for a “controversial” quota system, and the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi could soon refuse to let rescue vessels disembark in Italy and ban the ships from Italian waters – including HMS Bulwark.
Our full statement in regards to the deployment of HMS Bulwark can be seen below.
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson, said:
HMS Bulwark continues to play a full and active role in dealing with the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean and there are no plans for the UK to withdraw from this mission. While Bulwark was deployed for an initial 60 day period ending next month, we are currently considering follow on options but the plan is for a seamless transition of assets to continue the UK military support to the operation.
HMT Lancastria
The Independent carries an expected story claiming relatives of those on board the HMT Lancastria have condemned the MOD for failing to commemorate their sacrifice on the 75th anniversary of the tragedy. The piece compares the tragedy to The Battle of Britain and Dunkirk which have been commemorated. The article contains only a part of our statement, the full line can be seen below.
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson, said:
The sinking of the HMT Lancastria remains the United Kingdom’s greatest maritime disaster and, although it occurred 75 years ago this week, the sacrifice of many thousands of servicemen and civilians, and the fortitude of those who were saved that day, must never be forgotten. The crew are honoured by memorials in Glasgow, where the ship was built, in St Nazaire, and in the National Memorial Arboretum, among others. As the French Government has provided an appropriate level of protection to the Lancastria through French law and it is formally considered a military maritime grave by the MOD, we believe that the wreck has the formal status and protection it deserves.
There is a long standing principle that new medals are not introduced for events that happened more than five years previously and medals are not traditionally awarded to mark individual events, however tragic. For example, no medals have been awarded for a single battle since that of Waterloo, 200 years ago.
While the sinking of the Lancastria was undoubtedly tragic, the Battle of Britain was commemorated in part because of the length of the fight while Operation Dynamo (Dunkirk) is commemorated because of its strategic, national importance. There have been many battles that have involved more casualties than the Lancastria, but have not been the subject of national commemorations. Therefore it would be very unusual to hold a national event for an incident of this kind.
All known MOD records relating to the Lancastria have been available at the National Archives at Kew since the early 1970s.
Image of the day
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