Brown admits Iraq funding error during prime minister's questions Gordon Brown is to correct his evidence to the Iraq Inquiry after accepting defence spending had not risen in real terms every year under Labour. The PM, chancellor during the war, said he now accepted it "did not rise in real terms" in one or two years. The Tories said it was a "humiliating climb-down" for the prime minister, whose evidence to the inquiry had been criticised by former defence chiefs. Mr Brown told MPs he had written to the inquiry chairman Sir John Chilcot. Mr Brown appeared before the inquiry into the Iraq War on 5 March, and denied starving UK armed forces of equipment when he was chancellor. Cash terms He told the inquiry that the defence budget was "rising in real terms every year" - but House of Commons figures showed this was not the case. Asked at prime minister's questions on Wednesday if he would correct the record, Mr Brown said: "Yes. I am already writing to Sir John Chilcot about this issue." He said defence spending had risen from £21bn in 1997 to around £40bn this year and "grows every year in cash terms". But he said: "Because of operational fluctuations in the way the money is spent, expenditure has risen in cash terms every year, in real terms it is 12% higher, but I do accept that in one or two years defence expenditure did not rise in real terms." Downing Street said Mr Brown would write to Sir John "shortly" but would not say when he became aware of the discrepancy in his evidence. Mr Cameron said it was the first time in three years he had heard Mr Brown "make a correction or a retraction". "The fact is, if you look at defence spending figures, or defence budget figures there have been years where there have been real terms cuts and at last the prime minister has admitted it." Snatch Land Rovers Shadow defence secretary Liam Fox said later: "This is a humiliating climb-down for Gordon Brown as his attempt to rewrite history has failed and his fantasy figures have been exposed." Liberal Democrat defence spokesman Nick Harvey said Mr Brown should go further: "He should apologise for the fact that under his watch our troops have not had the equipment they need to do the job. "They have struggled without sufficient helicopters for too long. It is a scandal that it has taken so long to get the Snatch Land Rover out of service in Afghanistan." Mr Brown has been criticised over his evidence to the inquiry by former heads of the armed forces. Lord Guthrie, former chief of defence staff, said the Ministry of Defence had "received the bare minimum from the chancellor, who wanted to give the military as little as he could get away with". His successor Lord Boyce said Mr Brown had been "disingenuous" in saying he had given the military all they asked for. Shadow defence secretary Liam Fox had urged Sir John Chilcot to recall Mr Brown to the inquiry in the light of the comments. Sir John replied that they had yet to go through the "many documents" they held which would help determine where there were "gaps" and who to invite back for further testimony. Mr Brown, in an interview with the armed forces broadcaster BFBS earlier this month, said of the former defence chiefs: "I think they are wrong. To be honest, I don't think it is appropriate for people to criticise us for not providing what we did provide. "The urgent operational requirements that were asked for by our forces were always met." The UK National Defence Association, which campaigns for more armed forces funding and includes Lord Guthrie and Lord Boyce among its patrons, said Mr Brown's admission vindicated its campaign. Spokesman Andy Smith said: "While other government departments have had their budgets vastly increased over the past 13 years, the Ministry of Defence budget has been consistently squeezed. "At the same time our military commitments have grown, leaving our Armed Forces chronically under-funded, over-stretched and over-tasked."Gordon Brown admits error on defence spending evidence
He should apologise for the fact that under his watch our troops have not had the equipment they need to do the job. 
Lib Dems I don't think it is appropriate for people to criticise us for not providing what we did provide 
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Wednesday, 17 March 2010
Nick Harvey
Gordon Brown
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