Weak pound a threat to defence procurement, MPS told

THE senior civil servant in charge of buying Britain’s warships, military aircraft and vehicles has told MPS that the country’s defences need more money.

Tony Douglas, one of the Government’s most highly paid officials, said he would like to see a rise in military spending.

His comments to MPS came as the Defence Secretary is said to have asked the Treasury for up to £1.7billion a year more to avoid sharp cuts as the Forces try to keep inside savings targets. The Ministry of Defence has targets to save around £20billion in the next decade, but service chiefs have said growing equipment costs and the drop in the pound have meant they cannot do it without sharp cuts to forces.

MPS on the Public Accounts Committee repeatedly asked Mr Douglas, the chief executive of Defence Equipment and Support, if the current budget was enough to buy equipment outlined in the Government’s defence plans.

He said: “I will speak as a British passport holder and someone who is as passionate as anyone else in this room. If it was my money, I would give them more, because defence needs it.”

Asked again by Meg Hillier, the chairman of the committee, he said: “If the rich uncle had £1 spare, I would give it to defence first.”

Ms Hiller said: “That sounds like a plea for more money.”

Mr Douglas said: “It sounds like a plea for a rich uncle.”

MPS were also told that the reduced value of sterling was now one of the greatest risks to the Mod’s equipment plan. Britain has its eyes on a range of costly Us-made equipment, such as F-35B stealth jets, which has become significantly more expensive as the pound has fallen against the dollar.

Stephen Lovegrove, the permanent secretary at the MOD, said: “The biggest issue is clearly going to be whether or not there is a long-lasting effect on the value of sterling.

Ms Hillier asked: “So foreign exchange is the biggest risk?”

He replied: “That is a big risk. It is a big risk right across the equipment programme and clearly the biggest risk is against the dollar because we spend a lot more in dollars.”

Gavin Williamson, the Defence Secretary, is calling on the Treasury to increase funding after a national security review recommended that any extra cash go to bolstering cyber defences.