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Afghanistan troops 'highest defence spending priority'
Ben Bailey29 Jun 2009
Supporting British troops in Afghanistan is the highest priority for the defence budget but must be balanced against meeting the dangers of an uncertain world, Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth said today.
And he reiterated that Parliament had voted in favour of renewing the UK's Trident nuclear deterrent - but noted that some details of the replacement system had been left undecided.
Mr Ainsworth was speaking as he returned from a three-day trip to Afghanistan, his first since becoming Defence Secretary at the start of this month.
He said there had been "real signs of progress on the ground" in Helmand Province, where the bulk of the 9,000 British servicemen and women in the country are based, since his last visit six months ago.
The arrival of up to 12,000 extra American troops in Helmand and the surrounding areas to support UK forces has gone "extremely well", he added.
On the controversial issue of military spending, Mr Ainsworth said there had been real-terms increases in the defence budget for many years, but the economic downturn had put a strain on resources.
"Everybody knows that there is a recession, everybody knows that there's impact on Government across the piece," he said.
"We will have to ensure that the funds that we have got are spent on our highest priorities - and we do that all the time."
Asked what these priorities were, he said: "We've got to look at that on an ongoing basis. We've got to take account of the current operations that we are involved in.
"Obviously our highest priority has got to be our people who are doing the hard yards and the hard fighting in Afghanistan, and making sure that they are as well catered for as they can be.
"But we have got to balance that against the uncertain world that we face.
"The threat changes. If one looks back, it's changed hugely over time and no-one can be certain that that won't happen again.
"No-one believed at the end of the 1990s that we would have troops involved the length of time we had in the kind of operation we had in Iraq.
"No-one would ever have believed that we would have 9,000 troops in Afghanistan. It was completely and utterly unpredictable."
Mr Ainsworth said he believed that Chancellor Alistair Darling understood the importance of funding Britain's military, adding: "It's my job to put the case for defence. It's the Chancellor's job to try to steer the country through difficult economic waters."
There has been recent speculation that the hugely expensive replacement for Britain's Trident nuclear deterrent could be scaled down or even scrapped.
Mr Ainsworth said a White Paper on renewing Trident was published in December 2006 and MPs had voted in favour of the project.
"We tried our level best at that time to be as wide in our consultation to give everybody the opportunity to have their say, and that was the decision that we took," he said.
But he added: "There were decisions that were talked about at the time that would need to be taken on future occasions."
Mr Ainsworth held talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai as well as senior British and US commanders during his trip to Afghanistan, which also included a visit to the frontline at Sangin in Helmand.
He said the situation was "slightly more positive" than he had anticipated, but cautioned against expecting change to happen too quickly.
"We should not be impatient about what can be achieved. There is still a long way to go in Afghanistan," he said.
The Defence Secretary said the main thing now was that the Afghan national election to be held in August was "credible".
"At the end of the day it's all about safety for the people," he said.
"You don't win this by killing Taliban, you win this by providing a secure environment for ordinary Afghans, who are then able to get on with their lives.
"We therefore deny support to the insurgency. That is the absolute priority. It's understood by the Americans, it's understood by the Brits as well."
Mr Ainsworth said he discussed the elections and the running of the country with Mr Karzai.
"I stressed to him the need to continue his good governance - there are got some good ministers in Afghanistan doing a good job," he said.
"The local links are very important. When you're down in Helmand Province and you're eking a living out on the land, Kabul is a long, long way away. So that local link is massively important to Afghans."
Around 700 extra British troops have been sent out to Afghanistan to help with the elections.
Asked whether they could be kept out for longer, Mr Ainsworth said: "Those additional people are there to cover the election period to provide additional security."
He said senior British officers in Afghanistan "understood the position" about the availability of troops.
"There isn't a commander in the world in history who wouldn't like more of almost everything. They know that they're making progress," he said.
Meanwhile, Mark Sedwill, the British Ambassador in Kabul, said Afghanistan was likely to need the UK's support for another "generation".
"I think we will all be here for many years," he said.
"Now we hope that we won't have troops in combat operations for many more years as we develop the Afghan security forces, the police and the army, and they can take up more of the strain.
"But even after that - and that could be a few years' time - there will be a substantial training and mentoring role for our forces to help the Afghans do that.
"And I think we will be here supporting the governance, economic and social development of Afghanistan for many years, probably 10, 15 or more.
"It's a very poor country. It's going to need our support, probably for a generation."
He said the August elections were important as a further step in the Afghan people taking control of their own destiny.
"Of course this is a country that still faces conflict, it's a very poor country, so we must be realistic about these elections," he added.
"But we hope they will be credible, secure and inclusive enough to genuinely reflect the will of the people.
"And if that's the case, whether it's President Karzai who is elected or one of his opponents, then I think they can be a platform for a successful five years."
Reader views (1)
Our troops need the support of all government parties and making it a political argument is playing into the terrorists hands. The press are dangerous running polls about whether or not the British public support the camapaign. Most people if asked don't even understand why we are there, so how can they make a reasoned judgement? If we leave there is a real risk of terrorism becoming a regular event on our streeets and who knows what else in the future. If we don't improve the life of the Afghan people they will continue to supply the drugs sold on our streets. Mainly the troops need and deserve our support. The press are once again playing into the terrorists hands. Whose side are they on?
- Mary-Jane Willows, Milton Keynes UK, 13/07/2009 22:42
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