Steve Brine has welcomed news that the Defence Budget is in balance for the first time in a generation, as announced to Parliament by Secretary of State for Defence, Philip Hammond MP.
The Winchester & Chandler's Ford MP represents a strong Defence tradition across the area, with a large number of Forces families also living in his constituency, and is delighted that the budget is balanced for the first time in a generation with a sustainable and deliverable Equipment Programme after years of Labour mismanagement.
Philip Hammond said: "My first priority as Secretary of State for Defence is achieving success on operations, both now and in the future. And I am clear that when we ask the brave men and women of our Armed Forces to put themselves in danger in pursuit of our national security, we owe it to them to make sure they are properly supported and have the best equipment we can give them to do the job.
"But the best way to support our Armed Forces, as they restructure and re-focus themselves for the future, is to give them the assurance of stable and well-managed budgets and the confidence that the Equipment Programme is affordable and deliverable.
"After two years' work, started by my predecessor, Liam Fox, I have been able to announce that we have finally eliminated the £38bn black hole we inherited from Labour – and even managed to provide a small annual reserve built in as a prudent measure to make sure we are not blown off course by unforeseen events. These are plans that are endorsed by the Service Chiefs and by the Treasury."
The Defence Equipment Plan will account for around 45% of the annual Defence budget by the end of Planning Round 12 (PR12). Labour's approach was to order equipment with no money to pay for it, forcing the military to live a hand to mouth existence, and threatening to undermine the entire Defence programme. An unfunded wish list had built up where projects were allowed into the equipment programme without full funding. This led to delays and cancellation of projects to manage in-year cash shortages. The situation was compounded by committing to projects not only before they could be afforded, but also far in advance of there being any need to do so.
Mr Hammond continued: "This systematic over-programming removed the flexibility to respond to changes in threat priorities or alternative technologies becoming available. And it is our Armed Forces, and the defence of our Country, that have ultimately paid the price for this mismanagement.
"Over the ten years of PR12, we will spend nearly £160bn on new equipment procurement and data systems and their support, reflecting the planning assumption agreed with the Treasury of a 1% per annum real increase in the Equipment and Support budget from 2015.
"And we will move forward with a new financial discipline in the Equipment Plan. Under-, rather than over-programming, so that we can focus on value rather than cash management. We will give our Armed Forces confidence that once a project is in the programme, it is real, it is funded and it will be delivered, so they can plan with certainty. The core committed equipment programme amounts to just under £152bn over ten years, against a total planned spend of almost £160bn, leaving £8bn uncommitted.
"The £152bn includes, for the first time ever, a centrally held contingency reserve, over and above project contingency, of over £4bn to ensure the robustness of the plan."
The plan includes; 14 new Chinooks, Apache life-extension & Puma upgrade, a programme of new armoured fighting vehicles of around £4.5bn over ten years, and a £1bn upgrade of the Warrior Armoured Fighting Vehicle, and the building of the two QE class aircraft carriers; the remainder of the Type 45 destroyers and the new class of Type 26 frigates; the Astute class and Successor nuclear submarines; investment in new Wildcat helicopters, the Merlin upgrade programme and the assessment phase for Merlin marinisation; introduction into service of the Voyager Air-to-Air refueller & troop transporter, the A400M air transporter and Air Seeker; an additional C17 strategic airlifter; continued investment in Typhoon and JSF; and £7bn invested in complex weapons – the missiles and torpedos that give our Navy, Army and Air Force their fighting edge.
Steve Brine said: "Of course, rescuing our economy is the central mission of this government, and this financial discipline is proof of that ongoing. Defence is so important to my constituency, as I ensured I made clear in my maiden speech back in 2010.
"We have had to take some extremely tough decisions so far, but I warmly welcome this news from Philip Hammond and am sure many of my constituents will be very interested in the development."
Pictured; Winchester is home to Worthy Down, to the north of the constituency
More information...
You can read Steve's 2010 Maiden Speech, where he highlighted the importance of defence to Winchester & Chandler's Ford, here.