NEWS RELEASE
Wednesday 17th March 2010
PRIME MINISTER'S ADMISSION ON DEFENCE SPENDING VINDICATES UKNDA CAMPAIGN
The UK National Defence Association (UKNDA), which campaigns for more resources for Britain's Armed Services, has welcomed the Prime Minister's admission that he was wrong to claim to the Chilcot Inquiry that defence spending had risen every year during his time as Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Gordon Brown said in the House of Commons today (March 17), during Prime Minister's Questions, that he accepted that "in one or two years, defence expenditure did not rise in real terms", and said that he would be writing to Sir John Chilcot to "clarify" what he had told the Iraq Inquiry.
UKNDA spokesman Andy Smith said: "This is an important admission by the Prime Minister and entirely vindicates our campaign for more funding for defence. While other Government departments have had their budgets vastly increased over the past 12 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. This cannot go on."
He added: "MoD figures show clearly that, allowing for inflation, the defence budget fell in five years: 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2002 and 2007."
Formed in 2007, the UKNDA argues for significant increases in the defence budget to repair the damage done by consistent under-resourcing of the military. Its Patrons include three former Chiefs of the Defence Staff - Admiral Lord Boyce, Marshal of the RAF Lord Craig, and General Lord Guthrie.
The founder-President of the UKNDA was Winston S. Churchill, who died earlier this month.
-Ends
Press contacts:
Cdr John Muxworthy RN, CEO, UKNDA, Tel: 07721 624980 / 01264 860693, Email ceo@uknda.org
Andy Smith, PRO, UKNDA, Tel: 07737 271676, Email pro@uknda.org
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