My take on the government's important Strategic Defence Review

Our local community has always recognised the importance of investing in effective defences, and of supporting our Armed Forces.

Like many people, my late grandfather served in the army in World War Two, and my late father was one of the last of the National Service generation who served in the RAF after the war.

As those direct memories fade, it is more important than ever that we do not forget the importance of investing in strong defences. In an ever more uncertain world, we have no choice but to be realistic about the threats we face as a country.

This weeks' Strategic Defence Review published by the Government, in my view, gets many things right. It recognises just how much the world has changed, and how it continues to change rapidly, with the threats to our country and global security very different and in many ways more challenging than just a decade ago.

We see new threats from nuclear state powers like Russia, regional conflicts around the world, the ever present threat of terrorism, but also the nature of warfare changing at speed - the increased use of drones, cyber attacks and cyber warfare becoming far more common, alongside threats to our critical national infrastructure and economy.

But for all that was sensible in the Review, there remain some very real gaps. The most obvious of these was that, while the SDR contained a sensible list of recommendations, it risks becoming a shopping list that the Government has no clear plan on how to pay for.

The Government failed to set out a clear plan and path to reaching 3% of UK GDP being spent on defence, something that the Review is largely based upon. The commitment to 2.5% of GDP spent on defence by 2027/28, while welcome was already where we were heading and simply is not enough to deliver this Review's recommendations. The Prime Minister and Ministers have refused to commit to a firm date, and path to delivering the 3% of GDP for defence spending that is needed, and are talking about the mid-2030s. And all of this at the same time as they are giving away the Chagos Islands, crucial strategically and a crucial UK defence asset, to Mauritius, only to then lease back the islands that we currently own outright, at a cost of billions of pounds to the taxpayer.

I am clear in my support for our Armed Forces, and for our defences to be modernised to be fit for the challenges we face today, but that means we must ensure the plan is properly funded and the Government must be clear about this, and the tough choices needed.

A good start would be scrapping the Labour Government's Chagos deal and not paying over those billions of pounds for what we already own, instead putting it into our Armed Forces.