The defence secretary has given a date for delivery of a new strategic defence and security review (SDSR) that will dictate the armed forces capabilities and posture for the next five years.
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon told Parliament on June the 8th that the SDSR will report “towards the end of this year.”
Media speculation has suggested the Treasury was originally looking at a nearly £1 billion reduction in defence spending, however, the MoD have announced that they will contribute to the cross-government effort to tackle the public finances by making £500 million of savings and efficiencies, half the amount speculated in the media. Instead of spending up to the budget limit, departments including the MoD would deliver underspends. The spending cuts are not expected to not impact current operations, manpower levels or the baseline defence budget for this year.
An MoD Spokesperson said:
“You would expect MOD to play a part in the Government’s ongoing commitment to reduce the deficit. As part of the Chancellor’s announcement, we have agreed to make a further £500M of savings and adjustments in this financial year. This amounts to 1.5% of the overall defence budget. This agreement will not impact on the baseline defence budget, manpower numbers or current operations. The UK will continue to spend 2% of GDP on Defence in this financial year.”
what the fuck are we going to lose now?
The ability to sodding swear?
Unfortunately we did not lose 2 aircraft carriers without catapults when we had the chance. Its clear to me we need more special forces and surveillance and control and not enormous non nuclear powered floating hangars.