Sale of Red Arrows base to save £140m

Downing Street has defended plans to sell off the home of the Red Arrows, saying the move will save taxpayers £140 million.

RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, which is home to the aerobatics display team, is being axed as part of a wider move to provide more “modern and efficient” military bases, according to No 10.

Officials are now working to find a new home for the Red Arrows.

Sir Edward Leigh, Conservative MP for Gainsborough, said he was “saddened” the base, which is in his constituency, was to be sold.

He tweeted: “Saddened that the Ministry of Defence wants to sell RAF Scampton as part of cost-saving measures. Not the best way to mark the #RAF100: closing the home of the RAF Red Arrows and Dambuster squadron.

“I will work with Lincolnshire County Council & West Lindsey District Council to ensure the base has a bright future.”

Opened in 1916, the base is famous for being the headquarters of 617 Squadron as they prepared for the Dambusters mission. It now employs 600 people and has been home to the Red Arrows display team for more than 20 years.

The MoD is expected to make £1.7 billion in savings in the next 10 years, prompting concerns the defence budget is under too much strain. Last month, the Commons Defence Committee called on the government to increase defence spending from 2% to 3% of GDP, a boost of around £20 billion a year.

Committee chairman Julian Lewis said the hike was necessary “to place our defence policy on a sustainable basis to meet new threats and fill existing financial ‘black holes”’.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said: “That closure is part of a plan to deliver modern and efficient military bases.”

The Red Arrows were based at RAF Scampton.