Aid and defence

SIR – Penny Mordaunt, Secretary of State for International Development (Comment, November 15), thinks that aid will “head off trouble” and that we have “world-class defence and diplomacy”.

If we pay aid to buy influence, the begging bowl will be held out for as long as it takes for us to come to our senses. It is also beyond all reason that we should be giving away money that we have had to borrow.

As for world-class defence, Ms Mordaunt, as a Royal Naval reservist, should know that our defences have been hollowed out. Sir Michael Fallon boasted about the size of our budget, but failed to admit that it only reached 2 per cent of GDP through including many non-defence items.

The Navy has just 19 escort vessels, which would be insufficient to protect our major warships, even if they all worked. The six Type 45 destroyers are virtually useless, while many of the 13 Type 23 frigates are laid up.

We may have the largest aircraft carrier the Royal Navy has ever had, but where are the aircraft? Will there be enough for both the Fleet Air Arm and the Royal Air Force?

As for the Army, the target of 30,000 reservists remains out of reach; but we have overshot on the reduction in regular manpower to 86,000, and it is doubtful if we will ever get as many personnel as that.

We need to boost recruitment, but before we can do that, retention of trained personnel has to be given priority. The most effective recruiting mechanisms are serving personnel with good morale.

Let’s abandon the aid budget except for emergency aid, and save further money by getting rid of the Department for Overseas Development. David Wragg

Edinburgh