Douglas Carswell's Blog

Trouble brews at Ministry of Defence?

MoD has run out of money again, so it would seem. Alas, we shouldn't be surprised.

As long as we continue to allow a handful of powerful defence contractors to carve up the budget, there will never be enough.

Labour's Defence Industrial Strategy deliberately restricts the range of companies able to supply our armed forces. That then allows the seller to set the terms of trade - high prices, missed delivery deadlines and poor customer service.

This - rather than any compelling strategic consideration - explains how it is we end up spending over �25 million on a helicopter that could have been bought for half that amount.

Worse, it means we often keep buying kit that it suits the supplier to keep selling, even if it was initially designed to defend northern Europe from a Soviet tank attack. Just how useful have those Challenger tanks and Eurofighters actually been in Afghanistan? Would it not have been wiser to have had a few more drones?

The Coalition is embarking on an inspirational agenda to bring more choice, competition and accountability to public services. We should apply those same principles at the Ministry of Defence.

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