The new defence agenda
Daniel Korski 2:06pm
The appointment of a new Defence Secretary is one of the best things in Gordon Brown’s reshuffle. Des Browne had grown tired at the MoD, struggling to maintain the respect of the rank and file, battling to oversee two ministerial portfolios and failing to manage crises, like the Iranian capture of British sailors. John Hutton’s appointment is a chance for new thinking.
So what should the new defence secretary do in his first 100 days? Here are five ideas.
1) As Charlie Edwards says over on Global Dashboard, John Hutton needs to get himself to Iraq and Afghanistan and take the measure of both campaigns. There is too much confusion about British strategy in Iraq – with the FCO telling visitors Britain’s staying in Basra, and the MoD itching to get out – while NATO’s Afghan campaign is clearly going off the rails. This cannot continue and, once back from the front, Hutton should ask the Prime Minister to be put in charge of both missions. A new cross-Whitehall Afghanistan Unit should be set up to assist with this new set of responsibilities.
2) Re-focus the defence establishment, which has suffered under inadequate funding, erroneous concurrency assumptions and a Cold War bureaucratic set-up. Britain’s clearly in need of a Strategic Review, like the SDR in 1997 and the SDR New Chapter in 2001. As there may not be time to undertake a fundamental review before the General Election, Hutton should create a new, independent Defence Policy Board – chaired by someone like RUSI’s Michael Clarke – to begin thinking the unthinkable. For too long, strategic thinking has been stymied inside the MoD and the appointment of a new Director of Strategy will only go so far. New input is needed and the board could be asked to draft a series of essays on key defence topics like energy security, recruitment, veteran affairs, counter-insurgency etc.
3) The MoD needs to re-think its procurement process. It is simply too antiquated and slow-moving to support Britain’s 21st century military roles. The appointment of Kevan Jones as a minister will be useful as he has shown himself dogged in pursuit of better procurement practices while serving on the House of Commons Defence Committee. He should chair a review of the MoD’s procurement system with a view to undertaking root-and-branch reform.
4) Hutton needs to look at the conditions of soldiers and veterans. The potential population of veterans and dependants is estimated between four and five million; a figure set to rise. Much has been done recently, with the establishment of the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency and the launch of www.veterans-uk. But more can still be done.
5) Britain’s foreign security policy needs a re-think. The Labour government’s support for NATO has been formulaic and its position on ESDP unclear. Hutton should use the December meeting of NATO’s defence ministers to lay out what Britain thinks is required to make the Alliance fit for another 60 years. This should include examining the idea of a NATO Military Advisory Force, which can ensure the availability of training teams like those required to build the Afghan forces. He should also take on the task of getting candidates for the post of NATO Secretary-General (my suggestion would be Joscka Fisher, but I’m not sure he’d take it).
To get France on board the necessary change inside NATO, Hutton should propose a St Malo II summit - this time including the Poles, Germans and Italians – to chart the next stage of ESDP’s development. Efforts to make Europe’s militaries fit for purpose – the purpose in today’s world being expeditionary, multinational operations, not stopping invaders at the national frontier – have been famously unproductive. 70% of Europe’s land forces simply cannot operate outside national territory. Britain should lead an effort to deal with this lacunae, pushing a model of ‘variable geometry’ – with some EU countries pooling their efforts on defense research, others setting up joint air transport commands, and so on – each according to national interest and aptitude. This approach could help build key capabilities across Europe – which would help Britain – yet stop well short of the creation of any kind of European army.
In short, John Hutton has his tasks cut out for him. But if he focuses on these five areas – and shows a little more deftness of touch than his predecessors – there is every reason to believe that he can be a successful Defence Secretary, even in such difficult times.
Previous
Matt
October 6th, 2008 2:52pm Report this commentFor heavens sake Mr Korski, some of what you advocate is common sense and would be welcome- but not point 3.
I am ex forces and now work in a consultancy which has done a lot of work with the MOD procurement side in the last year or so.
The merging of the DPA and DLO has finally given some semblance of joined up procurement and it's only 18 months old. The last thing the forces need is yet more wholessale change to the procurement process unless and unitl we've seen whether the last lot has worked.
When I was in the navy, we had a saying that the brass hats had an attitude of "if we don't change everything all of the time, how are we going to know if anything works or not?"
The truth is that we may finally be on the right road, it just hasn't yet been given long enough to bed in yet.
MoD procurement has been a nightmare for so long, but that doesn't recognise the fact that things are changing.
Alfred T Mahan
October 6th, 2008 2:55pm Report this commentHe might also consider winding up the RAF and transferring its functions to the army and navy. Even when Trenchard blagged Lloyd George into creating it, it was a dubious idea - and nearly lost us WW2 because the air marshals didn't understand the need for air power at sea, and insisted on building an independent bomber force that absorbed huge sums and was useless for the first four years of the war during which we nearly bled to death. Catastrophe was only averted by the return of naval aviation to the navy in 1938, without which we would have lost innumerable convoy battles and hence the war while the huge bomber fleet dropped 95% of its bombs more than five miles from the intended target. This is not to belittle the huge sacrifice made by the RAF during the war, by the way.
Nowadays the RAF has a very limited independent role - mostly it supports army operations, either with tactical strikes or as a taxi service for soldiers. Those jobs would be better performed under a unified command structure, and having two services instead of three would reduce Whitehall power struggles and inefficiencies. Heaven knows we need the biggest bang for the buck nowadays.
It might also mean that the defence budget was spent on body armour and APCs instead of Eurofighters that are obsolete before entering service.
Dan
October 6th, 2008 3:43pm Report this commentAnd as he is MP for Barrow in Furness, a Trident replacement now looks an even safer bet ...
cuffleyburgers
October 6th, 2008 4:08pm Report this commentAnd make sure that procurement is driven more by the need to buy decent kit that works, and costs less (ie American) rather than further idiotic European projects designed to massage France's tender hubris.
Our only true allies are the US and our commonwealth cousins, our procurement shold reflect that and not dubious political calculations.
Chuck Unsworth
October 6th, 2008 4:49pm Report this commentDoes Hutton know any military history? Does he know anything at all about the armed forces - notably the Army?
Then again, what does he know?
Why is it that the minute any Ministers have been in post long enough to acquire the faintest glimmering of understanding their job they are immediately sent to another post?
Austin Barry
October 6th, 2008 5:20pm Report this commentEr, Chuck, John Hatton is a published military historian of note: not just a policy wonk.
Martin
October 6th, 2008 5:32pm Report this commentAnother NuLab clone that has never had a proper job...He once wrote a book on the military...Guess that qualifies him for the job..Not.
Alfred T Mahan
October 6th, 2008 6:49pm Report this commentHe wrote a book called "Kitchener's Men" about infantry experiences in WW1. Not sure "military historian of note" is quite accurate... and it doesn't inspire confidence that he can't get the name of the book right on his own website.
TGF UKIP
October 6th, 2008 6:55pm Report this commentFormer left wing terrorist Joschka Fischer for SecGen of NATO! Why on earth does the Speccie give this raving, europhile, Guardianista poseur time of day. I can only assume he' either related to or sleeping with a senior member of Speccie staff.
mac
October 6th, 2008 7:25pm Report this commentHutton's probably more dynamic and politically attuned than his predecessor, but so what - he'll dance his leader's tune just like all New Labour defence ministers have had to do for 11 years under Brown's myopic approach. And that's G Brown of whom I speak, author of the book 'Courage', but I fear that's one attribute Macavity wouldn't recognise if he tripped over it.
Grown-ups Read Corbett
October 6th, 2008 7:53pm Report this commentHmm. The narrative of RAF history offered above is not one that would be endorsed by very many recent military historians.
dexey
October 6th, 2008 8:41pm Report this commentCan we have the veteran link corrected please?
Chuck Unsworth
October 6th, 2008 9:36pm Report this commentAustin,
A published military historian, eh?
What, like Liddell Hart, Richard Holmes or even, spare us, the late and much lamented Alan Clark? I think not.
Such a pity that this historian found himself unable to list a single reference or source in his sole scholarly work.
But perhaps he'll have enough sense to study the (repeated)Afghan Wars over virtually the same terrain as today. Those in the area of Iraq and Iran being increasingly irrelevant.
Is Hutton also a policy wonk? There's no end to his talent, clearly. Perhaps there's a beginning, though.
Milos B
October 6th, 2008 11:43pm Report this commentThe idea of appointing Fischer as NATO SG is pure genius - having been a left-wing, anti-NATO activist is exactly what will make him able to sell the Alliance and the Afghan mission in Europe and with constituents not keen on NATO. TGF UK be a litte more politically astute - and less ungentlemanly - for once. Your arguments are not advanced by crass insults.
James Forsyth
October 7th, 2008 12:32am Report this commentTGF, Calm down--I can assure you neither of those things is the case
Fraser Nelson
October 7th, 2008 9:41am Report this commentTGF, we'd never let the people we're sleeping with write on CoffeeHouse. We'd all get outshone, instantly.
TGF UKIP
October 7th, 2008 11:49am Report this commentNice one, Fraser, though I do hope your ever-loving wife is a brilliant columnist too, otherwise she might wonder who you could be referring to.
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