‘If you are going to promise an Iron Dome – you had higher make certain it’s not an iron colander’
Minister of State for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard writes for The Mirror as the Tories launch plans for a missile defence system similar to Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’
‘You might expect Kemi Badenoch to know what her own party is proposing’(Image: Getty Images)
The world is getting more dangerous, and people can see that for themselves.
War is raging in Europe, missiles and drones are changing the battlefield, and Britain needs stronger defences to keep people safe. That is why the Tories’ latest announcement deserves proper scrutiny.
They say they can build Britain an “Iron Dome” for £10billion. If there is a ready made, bargain basement Iron Dome sitting on a shelf for that price, we would all like to know about it.
Because if you are going to promise an Iron Dome, you had better make sure it is not an iron colander.
The problem is that the sums do not stack up, and the announcement started falling apart almost as soon as it was made.
Kemi Badenoch often talks about approaching politics like an engineer. Well, an engineer would normally be expected to know what they are building.
Kemi herself admitted she was “not a defence expert”. Fair enough. Nobody expects the Leader of the Opposition to design missile systems herself.
But you might expect her to know what her own party is proposing.
Within hours of being announced it started falling apart. She then said the plan was not an Iron Dome, despite her own party’s press release calling it exactly that. This would be funny if Britain’s security was not so serious.
We do need better air and missile defences, and Labour is investing in them. We are doubling the Army’s Sky Sabre systems, putting money into longer range air and missile defence, and strengthening everything from counter drone technology to Royal Navy air defence. But we also know the threat is moving quickly, and we need to move faster with it.
Labour inherited Armed Forces that had been hollowed out after 14 years of Tory government, with recruitment in crisis, morale falling and major equipment programmes left in a mess.
We are turning that around. Defence spending is rising, recruitment is improving, and we are putting more money into the people, weapons and technology needed to defend Britain. We will also set out our path to spending 3 per cent of GDP on defence, and then 3.5 per cent.
The Tories had 14 years to get this right. Now they want us to believe they can fix it with one press release that doesn’t survive contact with reality.
Britain needs stronger defences and serious investment. It does not need fantasy figures and gimmicks.
