Call for more efficiency in the military

THE Ministry of Defence is in danger of becoming an inefficient “jobs club” for people it no longer needs, Johnny Mercer, a former soldier and influential backbench MP, has warned.

Mr Mercer will today urge ministers to be “more honest” about the armed forces, which he claims have become “inherently inefficient” and must now “embrace change”.

In a speech to the Royal United Services Institute think-tank, he will say that any additional funding must go hand-in-hand with reform, with defence chiefs made to recognise that “you can actually do more with less”.

It comes just weeks before the publication of the Modernising Defence Programme, which is expected to recommend more funding for the Armed Forces in exchange for ministers delivering efficiencies in key areas.

Gavin Williamson, the Defence Secretary, is expected to use the review’s recommendations to ratchet up pressure on Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, who has refused to back calls for a significant rise in defence spending.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph last night, Mr Mercer said that while he agreed that the MOD needs more money, he has grown “incredibly weary” of the public infighting between ministers.

An MOD spokesman said: “We have delivered over £5billion in efficiencies and continue to drive reform and modernisation at the heart of the Modernising Defence Programme.”