MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

UK political consensus for Armed Forces review and spending cuts

“Vulnerable” programs: Trident nuclear deterrent and two planned aircraft carriers

The United Kingdom government has laid the ground for the first full-scale review of Britain's armed forces for more than a decade once the general election is out of the way.

Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth said Tuesday he would publish an interim green paper on the issues to be covered early next year, with a view to holding a full strategic defence review (SDR) early in the next parliament.

The Tories, who could be in power by that time, indicated that a Conservative government could use the green paper to inform its thinking when it carried out its own promised SDR.

Mr Ainsworth said the review was designed to ensure “we develop and maintain armed forces appropriate to the challenges we face and the aims we set ourselves as a nation”.

The issues to be considered in the green paper will include the changing strategic context, the lessons from recent operations, the exercise of “soft power” to prevent future conflicts, and the impact of technological changes.

It will also look at ways of improving the processes for procuring equipment and the modern day requirements on and aspirations of armed forces personnel.

The timing means of the SDR that it will inevitably take place against a background of severe public spending cuts, which will almost certainly see questions raised over major equipment projects.

Among the programmes that could be vulnerable are the renewal of the Trident nuclear deterrent and the Royal Navy's two planned aircraft carriers - which formed the centrepiece of the last SDR in 1998.

Shadow defence secretary Liam Fox said the review should have been held at least two years ago. “This announcement represents the last gasp of a dying Government under a Prime Minister who has never given the armed forces the priority they deserve,” he said.

“We nevertheless welcome it as long overdue, as long as the work will serve to inform the full strategic defence review which a Conservative government is committed to undertaking.”

Liberal Democrat defence spokesman Nick Harvey said the review must look again at the future of the Trident deterrent. “Any review which fails to ask the big questions will be a waste of time. In particular, the Government must think again about replacing Trident,” he said.