8/7/2019 Murphy to Fox on SDSR (April 2011)
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Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MPSecretary of State for DefenceMinistry of
DefenceMain BuildingWhitehall, London
SW1A 2HB
05 April 2011
Dear Liam,
I am writing to request that you reopen the Strategic Defence
and Security Review. There is growingdisquiet that the Review has
not survived its first contact with world events.
In the week that the Air Chief Marshall has said that ongoing
operations overseas bring you nearer
the point that you have just about exhausted the bag and when
the MoD plan s to remove a further1bn from the budget, this
situation is becoming increasingly acute.
It is clear that the majority of the defence community believe
that events in North Africa and theMiddle East have fundamentally
changed the security landscape. No-one foresaw the dawn of theArab
Spring, but now that it is upon us it is right that the Government
considers its implications ondefence policy, and in turn the
long-term military capabilities we require, and reopens the
StrategicDefence and Security Review.
The assumptions on which the Review was based now look out of
date and it is clear that many of thecapabilities deemed to be
unnecessary at the time of the SDSR are central to
operationalrequirements in Libya.
As you know current operations in Libya are reliant, for
example, on HMS Cumberland, which wasdue to be decommissioned last
week as part of the reduction of frigate numbers.
The Government have extended the life of two Nimrod R1s, despite
repeated assurances that thesurveillance capability of the R1s and
the now scrapped successor MRA4s could be covered in otherways.
Operations in Libya have involved Tornado jets, whose fleet is
set to be reduced, while there arereports that there are not enough
trained Tornado pilots to replace all of those currently on
operationswhen the squadron has to rotate.
The decision to scrap Ark Royal and the Harrier fleet means
Britain does not have carrier strikecapability for a decade.
Foreign Secretary William Hague has said current events are as
significant as September 11 th. It isworth considering how the
previous government responded to 9/11. A new chapter was added to
thedefence review in 2002. In the first budget after the September
11 th attacks the Governmentannounced an additional 50 million for
domestic security and 950 million for defence.
The Prime Minister said on March 23rd
of the SDSR, if there are further lessons to learn of course
weshould learn them. This was welcome. The Government should learn
the lesson from the previ ous
8/7/2019 Murphy to Fox on SDSR (April 2011)
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Governments. Before the end of 1982, as a result of the
Falklands Conflict, the Conservativesreconsidered the Nott Defence
Review and restored some of the proposed cuts to the Navy,
includingretaining an aircraft carrier and a larger fleet of
destroyers and frigates.
In different and specific circumstances those Governments
rightly took the decision to think afresh
and came to conclusions that were right for that time. In light
of todays fast -changing world events,this Government should test
the logic of its decisions against the new security landscape.
I know that the Government recognises the severity of the events
we are living through, but appearsset on a trajectory designed for
another era. The SDSR did not mention Tunisia, Egypt or Libya. I
donot believe that we can achieve this years level of foreign and
defence policy ambition on last year sSDSR assumptions.
It would be the sign of a confident Government today to look
again at the Review.
Yours sincerely,
Rt Hon Jim Murphy MPShadow Secretary of State for Defence
