Stone hits out at Ministry of Defence's reckless spending over next 10 years
Far north MP Jamie Stone has accused the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of spending its resources "recklessly with little foresight".
The Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross MP spoke out after the National Audit Office (NAO) said the MoD finds it difficult to strike the right balance between increasing equipment capability and living within its means.
The department’s planned spending in the next 10 years is higher than its budget but it believes it can make savings so that budget and costs will align.
Mr Stone, the Liberal Democrat’s defence spokesman, said the report should “set alarm bells ringing”. It found that there is a risk to affordability of defence equipment because of over-optimistic assumptions about future budgets, costs, and the likely achievement of savings targets.
Mr Stone said: "Public expenditure is under immense scrutiny and taxpayers must have complete confidence in the Ministry of Defence, something more important now than ever before in view of the rapidly developing international situation involving Russia and China.
"It is highly ironic that we are seeing a decline in the number of British UK defence personnel – due to government cuts – and yet the MoD is spending its resources recklessly with little foresight. We cannot expect the brightest and the best to come to the defence of the realm when the MoD is running itself into the ground."
Gareth Davies, the head of the NAO, said: "The Ministry of Defence has taken some difficult decisions, reducing spending in some areas to allow it to spend more on its highest priorities. However, in this year’s Equipment Plan, risks remain of over-optimistic assumptions about costs, budgets and the likely achievement of savings targets.
"The new multi-year spending settlement gives the Department a rare opportunity to reset and develop an affordable Equipment Plan. The Department has further improvements to make if it is to both deliver the required equipment and make best use of the money it has been given."