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135 Territorial Army
26 OCTOBER 2009
Territorial Army
136
[Mr. Lancaster]
not to train for six months, but we might not learn until
as late as 31 March whether the cut will continue into
the next year. I understand from my sources in the
MOD that many options are being run up, whereby
these cuts will continue into the next financial year. I am
not suggesting that the Minister would ever not be
honest in this House, but can we have a degree of
honesty when he replies about whether such cuts are
being considered for next year? At the very least, will he
undertake to announce before December that next year’s
funding for the TA will come in? That will underline to
members of the Territorial Army that he values the TA
and that it has a future.
Finally, when the Minister stands up will he spare me
and my colleagues in the TA the platitudes about how
much he values the TA? Rather than telling me how
much he values the TA and the role that we play in
supporting the regular Army, will he give us some
actions and decisions through which he will reverse this
damaging and short-sighted announcement?
10.33 pm
Mr. Lindsay Hoyle (Chorley) (Lab) rose—
Mr. Speaker: Order. Does the hon. Gentleman have
the permission of the hon. Member for North-East
Milton Keynes (Mr. Lancaster) and of the Minister?
Mr. Hoyle: I asked the hon. Gentleman who is promoting
the debate—I spoke to him earlier.
Mr. Speaker: It is the normal course for the Member
concerned to seek the agreement of the sponsoring
member, the Minister and the Chair. If the Minister is
content for the hon. Gentleman briefly to contribute, I
will allow him to do so.
Mr. Hoyle: I put in a proposal for an hour-and-a-half
debate, which would have meant less time pressure, but,
unfortunately, we have managed only to secure a half-hour
debate.
It is important that we take heed of what has been
said. However, may I take the Minister a little further?
The Government have moved a little on this decision,
but they need to reverse the whole decision and find
another £20 million to replace this budget cut. Do we
really understand the damage? We have touched on the
subject of keeping skills at a high standard, whether
someone is working in 101 Engineer Regiment or serving
on the bomb disposal squad. The same applies to
medics, whose skills cannot be turned off and on to suit
the whim of the Government. Those skills must be
honed week in, week out, ready for deployment. We do
not know how many people we will need to back up. We
can envisage the role that is required, but in the end we
do not have the exact numbers.
The other thing is that many regiments are re-roling—
Anne Milton (Guildford) (Con): Ssh, ssh, ssh. We
want to hear the Minister.
Mr. Speaker: Order.
Mr. Hoyle: What a strange lady.
If the main regiments are re-roling, the TA, which
backs up those regiments, should also be doing the
training. Unless we are to be left with a great void, I
appeal to my hon. Friend the Minister to go to the
Prime Minister, find that £20 million and reverse the
decision. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
10.35 pm
The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence (Bill Rammell):
I start by genuinely congratulating the hon. Member for
North-East Milton Keynes (Mr. Lancaster) on securing
the debate, and thank him for providing me with the
opportunity to address the House on what I know is
an important issue of concern. I also genuinely—not
platitudinously—offer my thanks to the hon. Gentleman
for his own long service as a member of the Territorial
Army, which I know included service on operations
overseas.
The TA and the UK reserve forces make a vital
contribution to keeping our country safe—to defending
our citizens, territory, interests and national security. As
we set out in the strategic defence review, members of
the TA are no longer held in the role that they served in
during the cold war—that of direct territorial defence.
They now expect to be mobilised and deployed on a
range of operations in support of our defence policy
overseas. Like our regular forces, they demonstrate the
skills and values that place our armed forces in the top
rank—supreme physical courage, commitment, excellence,
application, leadership, judgment and selfless duty.
That duty has led to the deployment of 15,000 members
of the TA on operations since 2003. More than
540 members of the TA are currently serving in
Afghanistan. Like our regular forces, members of the
TA stand ready to make the ultimate sacrifice. Tragically,
14 Territorials have died on operations in Iraq and
Afghanistan. I pay tribute to their heroic efforts. We will
not forget the price that has been paid.
When we have forces on the front line, both regular
and reserve, putting their lives on the line for us, they
have to be the priority. That is why Afghanistan comes
first for defence. It is our main effort. It rightly gets first
call on equipment, and first call on training and support.
We are spending increasing sums from the Treasury
reserve and the direct defence budget to do this. Additional
spending on operations in Afghanistan has risen from
£700 million three years ago to more than £3 billion this
year. That is over and above the defence budget.
We have approved more than £3.2 billion of urgent
operational requirements specifically for Afghanistan.
That additional spending has allowed us to more than
double helicopter capacity compared with 2006, to
quadruple the numbers of mine-protected Mastiff and
Ridgback vehicles compared to six months ago, to
increase specialised troops and equipment to target
improvised explosive devices networks, and crucially, to
deploy around 1,000 more troops in a little over six
months, and budget for a further increase if the conditions
that we have set out are met.
Mrs. Madeleine Moon (Bridgend) (Lab): Will my
hon. Friend give way?
Bill Rammell: Very briefly.