CHARLES BENNETT ON UKIP AND DEFENCE POLICY:


The UK Independence Party believes that National Defence and the maintenance of

effective Armed Forces is not only the oldest but one of the most important

responsibilities of government. That is why although we believe in cutting back

expenditure in many areas, we actually believe a substantial increase in Defence

spending is necessary.

Successive Labour and Conservative governments have run down our Armed Forces

over the last twenty years, whilst expecting them to do more and more with less and

less in terms of troop numbers and equipment, even though the Ministry of Defence

itself remains bloated and now has one civilian employee for every two service

personnel in uniform. Many of these civilian employees are useful and necessary; many

others are not. 

It is already clear that David Cameron’s ‘Conservative Party, in spite of the pretence by

many Conservatives that they support the Armed Forces, will actually do even more

damage to our Armed Forces than the current Labour government already has! This

was the case last time they were in Government too.


The Army is already short of troops, particularly of Infantry, and of many types of the

right equipment, and is under increasing strain because of its long running operational

role in Iraq and now in Afghanistan.

The Royal Navy has been shrinking rapidly, and is about to be over-taken in size by the

French Navy for the first time in hundreds of years, and can ho longer effectively perform

its role.

The Royal Air Force is also under strength, and is especially short of helicopters,

transport aircraft, and tankers.

The UK Independence Party’s Defence Policy has, uniquely, been approved by the UK

National Defence Association, a non-party, non-political body.

We believe that NATO remains central to British Defence policy and also tin the

importance of our old alliances within the Commonwealth. In contrast, the Liberal

Democrats, Conservatives, and Labour are all conniving at our Armed Forces being

subsumed into European Union Control, as the EU’s insidious ‘Common Defence and

Security Policy’ takes shape under the ludicrous ‘leadership’ of the absurd Cathy

Ashton. Particularly in terms of Intelligence and some types of Defence equipment our

alliance  with the USA remains vital, and we will lose this link once we surrender control

of our Armed Forces to the EU; this process is already beginning.

We think that the Regular Army should be built up to a strength of 125,000, and we

would restore unnecessarily amalgamated Regiments. Defence Medical Services,

almost destroyed by the last Conservative government, would also be restored, and we

would double the size of the Territorial Army, that has performed so well in recent

years. The Army, like the RAF, also needs more helicopters, the shortage of which has

been made painfully obvious by operations in Afghanistan.

The Royal Navy badly needs its long awaited Aircraft Carriers, but now it is also

dangerously short of Frigates and Destroyers – it has less than half the 49 of these

warships than it had in 1990! Many other types of vessels are in short supply and the

Royal Navy faces being down graded to being a glorified coast guard unless something

is done soon.

The Royal Air Force, perhaps even more than the other forces, has been blighted by

politically motivated and often EU driven procurement decisions that have not served its

requirements well, and is being left with many dangerous gaps in its capabilities.

Wasteful, delayed, and often irrelevant Defence procurement has been one of the lesser

known scandals of the current government and of its predecessors.

Wiltshire has had a strong military presence for many years, but even here we see the

corrosive effect of government policy. RAF Lyneham is due to close, which will leave

the RAF with only one base, with a single runway, for its transport aircraft when we

need more of such aircraft. We would keep RAF Lyneham open, not because of its

undoubted local importance but because it is needed as part of an effective Defence

strategy. Although the Conservative Party says it would bring the remaining British

forces in Germany back to the UK they will not even pretend that they would keep

Lyneham open, which is a clear indication that the units now in Germany would not

actually return to Britain but would be disbanded; if they were to be brought back RAF

Lyneham and other bases would obviously be needed to house them!


British policy in Afghanistan, as in Iraq before, has not so far been a success, and has

provided yet another example of Whitehall thinking that it knows best and ignoring the

voices of experience ‘on the ground’. In many ways we have failed the Afghans whom

we meant to help and we are in danger of betraying the sacrifices of our own troops too.

I personally do not believe that failure in Afghanistan was inevitable from the start, or

even that it is now, but I believe that our policy, methods, objectives, and tactics there

require a radical overhaul if we are not to leave chaos behind, having made things worse

rather than better. Rapid withdrawal would be irresponsible and dangerous, but clear

and realistic objectives are essential.



None of the ‘established’ political parties show any respect for or understanding of our

Armed Forces and their needs and capabilities, and the treatment of ex-servicemen and

women has often been atrocious. This cannot be covered up by ‘Public Relations’ driven

visits to the troops and posed photo-opportunities, and our politicians attitude to the

Armed Forces is a national disgrace, which is eroding their morale and their

effectiveness.

As in so many areas of policy, it is only UKIP that offers a serious alternative to the

past failures of the other parties.

People may say: “But can we afford this?”. I say: “Can we afford not to provide our

Armed Forces with adequate personnel and adequate and efficient equipment?”