Liam Fox: We still have fourth largest military budget in the world
Dr Liam Fox, defence secretary, points to "radical reform", real-terms funding rises for the armed forces in the government's equipment programme and size of military budget in global terms:
"The committee is right to say that Future Force 2020 is only achievable with extra funding. That is why I announced two weeks ago that the military equipment budget will rise in real terms by over £3 billion between 2015 and 2020, with new helicopters being ordered, new money for our armoured vehicles, the Carrier programme and guaranteed spending on the Joint Strike Fighter. Our future equipment programme is no longer an unfunded aspiration but one that provides real money for real equipment.
"We continue to have the fourth largest military budget in the world and the SDSR has put defence back on a stable footing with highly capable armed forces and certainty for our personnel and their families.
"I am pushing through radical reform to ensure that the mistakes of the past are not repeated.
"As we have seen in the U.S., no country is immune to the global financial problems and even the world's biggest military power is now grappling with how to make defence cuts and reform for the future."
