In today's Defence news David Cameron has warned at a security conference in Bratislava of the dangers posed by those who "quietly condone" ISIL militants' extremist ideology.
Defence spending
There are a number of defence spending relating stories in today’s print coverage.
The Daily Telegraph reports that George Osborne was warned not to rob Britain of its ‘firepower’ over yesterday’s breakfast discussion with CDS and the three military chiefs yesterday. The article says the tone of the discussion was cordial.
Meanwhile, the Wall St Journal Europe reports that the Defence Secretary said the UK was involved in double the number of operations as five years ago, rebutting US officials’ concern about Britain’s defence role. He said that a US official was liaising with the MOD about the SDSR, making the process ‘more international’.
In contrast, The Sun carries the expected story that the MOD is looking at cutting tank training at BATUS and other battle practice in Kenya.
An MOD spokesperson said:
You would expect MOD to play a part in the Government’s ongoing commitment to reduce the deficit. As part of the Chancellor’s announcement, we have agreed to make a further £500M of savings and adjustments in this financial year. This amounts to 1.5% of the overall defence budget. This agreement will not impact on the baseline defence budget, manpower numbers or current operations. The UK will continue to spend 2% GDP on defence in this financial year.
Military housing
The Daily Telegraph carries an interview with the Army Families Federation housing specialist Cat Calder, leading with the suggestion that: ‘The dire state of much military housing is an insult to servicemen and their families’. The specialist cites personal experience of living in military accommodation with mould, says that the Defence Infrastructure Organisation is aware of the problem and is spending £18m on upgrades including £6m on damp, but adds that after a spending pause for several years there is a backlog of work that needs doing. Recognising the unique commitment service personnel make, the piece signs off warning that people will leave the military if their house is not of a proper standard.
An MOD spokesman said:
The MOD places great importance on offering Service personnel and their families living accommodation that meets their needs and is of a decent standard.
In addition to an ongoing improvement programme, building new homes and purchasing new properties from developers, we continue to target available funding on the most pressing housing issues – including a programme to address mould in older properties.
Since 2010, 3,000 Service homes have been fully upgraded. In addition we have carried out more than 29,000 smaller improvements, such as new kitchens, new bathrooms, loft insulation and other energy efficiency improvements.
As an example of our commitment to the provision of good quality Service homes, 346 new houses have been built on a purpose-built estate at Beacon Barracks in Stafford.
Salisbury Plain crash
There is further reporting today on the injuries sustained in the collision on Salisbury Plain on Wednesday evening during a training exercise.
We blogged the joint UK-India statement yesterday which can be found here.
Army bomb disposal
The Daily Mirror, Daily Star, Daily Telegraph and Independent all report that Army bomb disposal experts were called in after a man dressed in a Burka was arrested after a bomb scare in Watford. The man was arrested and the device, which was ‘not viable’, was later destroyed.
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