Tag Archives: defence

Opinion: Depleted Uranium Weapons – a new area of Liberal Democrat policy?

By Lev Eakins | Published 17th January 2012 - 11:50 am

After 40 years of increasing disquiet over depleted uranium (DU), the UK’s last operational DU tank munition – CHARM3 – is nearing the end of its shelf-life. DU weapons are chemically toxic and radioactive. Their use (especially in Iraq) generates a hazardous legacy that states recovering from conflict struggle to monitor and mitigate. CHARM3’s propellant charge expires in 2013 and the decision to renew or reject DU munitions may provide an opportunity for us in government.

Unlike the US and France, the UK has not upgraded its anti-tank ammunition in over a decade. This is due to the technical limitations …

Posted in Op-eds | 15 Comments

Horwood calls for National Defence Medal awarded by “truly independent” body

By The Voice | Published 31st December 2011 - 2:35 pm

Lib Dem MP for Cheltenham Martin Horwood has stepped up calls by the party for a National Defence Medal to be available for all veterans who have served in the Armed Forces.

Here‘s how the Press Association reports the story:

Martin Horwood, co-chairman of the Parliamentary Party Committee on International Affairs, said a new body was needed which was recognised by veterans as “truly independent”. Currently, any decision to award new medals is made by the Honours and Decorations Committee behind closed doors. But Mr Horwood believes it needs to be disbanded and reformed with a new independent chairman. It must

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Posted in News | Also tagged martin horwood, monroe palmer | 11 Comments

LibLink: Paddy Ashdown – Europe’s free ride on the back of Nato is over

By Nick Thornsby | Published 2nd November 2011 - 6:53 pm

In today’s Daily Telegraph, former party leader Lord (Paddy) Ashdown writes on the challenges facing Nato and the future of European cooperation on matters of defence.

Here’s a sample from Paddy’s piece:

These are confusing times for supporters of Nato. On the one hand, the alliance has completed its mission in Libya without a single casualty. On the other, its future looks less certain than ever in the face of fiscal austerity, increasingly uneven burden-sharing between members, and America’s dwindling faith in its utility.

The fact that the US feels this way is understandable. In 2000, America’s share of Nato defence spending was

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Posted in LibLink | Also tagged NATO, paddy ashdown, strategic defence review | 10 Comments

Nick Harvey MP writes: A hard look at defence spending

By Nick Harvey MP | Published 3rd August 2011 - 6:53 pm

Today the Commons defence committee published a report criticising the MOD for decisions taken in last year’s Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR). The report claims that recent defence budget reductions will leave our Armed Forces unable to execute the operations the Government sets for them post-2015.

I disagree.

It is true that the MOD is reducing numbers of service personnel across the Army, Navy and Air Force and indeed the MOD has altered the equipment programme, which led to the deletion of Nimrod and Harrier. But these tough decisions were necessary in order to address the black hole in the …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged afghanistan, liam fox, libya, NATO | 17 Comments

Paddy & Nick slam retired defence chiefs’ Lib Dem slurs

By The Voice | Published 4th May 2010 - 1:45 pm

Nick Clegg and Paddy Ashdown united today in condemning three retired members of the defence establishment who have a letter published in today’s Times attempting to frighten voters away from voting Lib Dem with crude warnings what perils await Britain if the party gains power.

The letter has just three signatories: Peter Clarke, Sir Richard Dearlove, and Lord Guthrie. Former Lib Dem leader Paddy Ashdown issued a masterly put-down of the trio in the Times:

Lord Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon, the former Lib Dem leader who helped to draw up the party’s defence and national security policies, responded to today’s letter, saying:

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Posted in General Election | Also tagged nick clegg, paddy ashdown | 12 Comments

Lib Dems set pace in signing up for Royal British Legion pledge

By The Voice | Published 28th March 2010 - 2:50 pm

The Royal British Legion is asking candidates from all parties to sign up to its manifesto ahead of the coming election campaign. Nick Clegg, along with the other two party leaders, has signed up to the Legion’s pledge, meeting recently with its Director General; while defence spokesman Nick Harvey has spoken at Legion fringe events.

The Legion has been keeping a tally of the proportion of MPs from each of the parties who have signed up to its manifesto – and as they comment, “Lib Dem MPs are setting the pace!”

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Posted in News | Also tagged armed forces, nick clegg, nick harvey, royal british legion | Leave a comment

A decision the next Prime Minister must make

By Tony Edwards | Published 23rd December 2009 - 11:20 am

The last Strategic Defence Review (SDR) was undertaken in 1998 and the die is now cast for the remaining months of this government. As the former Prime Minister, Tony Blair, said in his last speech on the subject of defence, ‘The nation must debate and decide what we want our country to do in the world and then fund it, so that it does not slip by default into the second division’. A major decision with respect to foreign and defence policies and their funding awaits the next Prime Minister and this decision can no longer be fudged.

We could decide …

Posted in Op-eds, The Independent View | 2 Comments

Lib Dem, Labour, Tory voters all say: scrap Trident

By Stephen Tall | Published 8th September 2009 - 7:45 pm

The Independent has the story:

The public wants Britain to scrap the Trident nuclear missile system but believes spending on health and education should rise each year, according to a ComRes poll for The Independent. By a margin of 58 to 35 per cent, people believe that the £25bn renewal of the Trident programme should be abandoned because of the state of the public finances.

Nick Clegg announced back in June his intention to ask the party conference to rule out like-for-like Trident replacement, arguing that the recession made it unaffordable and the political situation made it unnecessary.

The Indy notes that supporters of all three main parties support scrapping Trident:

Posted in News | Also tagged comres, trident | 2 Comments

Opinion: Britain should withdraw its troops from Afghanistan – and soon

By Geoffrey Payne | Published 20th July 2009 - 3:30 pm

Public opinion polls show that a big majority want British troops to leave Afghanistan. According to a recent opinion poll by ComRes, 64% think that British troops should leave. Yet their opinions barely register amongst our elected representatives.

It is not hard to guess why the public think this. What are our troops doing there? What are they hoping to acheive? How much longer will all this go on?

It is nearly eight years since our troops entered Afghanistan. Many times we have been told how well they are doing. Yet instead of leaving, we are sending in more troops. Some say that our troops will have to stay there for 30 years! Well, you cannot plan a war that will last that long. Whenever someone sets out that kind of time-frame, what it shows is that they have no idea how to end the war.

There are of course many good reasons why our troops should stay.

Posted in Europe / International, Op-eds | Also tagged afghanistan | 15 Comments

Clegg: Brown’s “staggering chaos and confusion” on Trident

By The Voice | Published 17th July 2009 - 6:20 pm

The BBC has the story:

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg has attacked government “chaos and confusion” over renewing the Trident missile system. No 10 has insisted the timetable for renewing Trident is unchanged. But earlier, officials implied that key decisions would be put off until May 2010 ahead of a conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Mr Clegg said the prime minister should make a “climbdown” and admit the missile system was not justified given equipment shortages in Afghanistan. In a statement, Downing Street said there had been “no change” in the government position that Trident would be renewed.

Here’s Nick’s …

Posted in News | Also tagged afghanistan, gordon brown, nick clegg, trident | 7 Comments

CommentIsLinked@LDV: Paddy Ashdown – The Cold War is over. We must move on, fast

By The Voice | Published 30th June 2009 - 11:41 am

Over at The Times, former Lib Dem leader Paddy Ashdown has co-authored an article with former Labour defence secretary George Robertson – they were co-chairs of the IPPR’s Commission on National Security in the 21st Century, whose report was published today – arguing that old-fashioned thinking is hampering British security policy today. Here’s their all-encompassing introduction:

The global recession is likely to worsen the international security environment considerably. It is already making many weak and poor states weaker and, as both 9/11 and recent events in North Korea have shown, the consequences flowing from weak, fragile and pariah states are

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Posted in LibLink | Also tagged george robertson, paddy ashdown | 7 Comments

Clegg marks Armed Forces Day with 5-point plan to improve service conditions

By The Voice | Published 26th June 2009 - 4:08 pm

Ahead of Armed Forces Day, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg has set out five priorities the Government must meet to better support Britain’s service men and women.

We must never forget the enormous sacrifices which our service men and women make on our behalf every day. I know from visiting them in Afghanistan that their selfless dedication is truly humbling.

“Armed Forces Day is a chance to show our gratitude, but also to reflect on how we can best support our troops. This Government has failed them too often. That is why I am setting out five priorities Gordon Brown must

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Posted in News | Also tagged armed forces, nick clegg | 5 Comments

NEW POLL: was Clegg right to ditch Trident?

By Stephen Tall | Published 17th June 2009 - 9:36 am

The big domestic political news last night was Nick Clegg’s announcement that the Lib Dems would oppose the renewal of the Trident nuclear deterrent, arguing “the world has changed, the facts have changed, you’ve got to change with them. So like-for-like replacement for Trident is just not right.”

As Nick himself has admitted, this is a reversal of the position he adopted in the leadership contest with Chris Huhne in late 2007. The Nick argued that dumping Trident would destroy the UK’s bargaining power in non-proliferation talks in 2010. Here’s the BBC news report:

Mr Clegg hit back that

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Posted in Voice polls | Also tagged chris huhne, ming campbell, nick clegg, trident | 21 Comments

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