Hoon sparks row over MoD spending
Gordon Brown and Geoff Hoon are locked in a battle over spending excesses at the Ministry of Defence.
The defence secretary publicly pleaded with the prime minister yesterday for extra money to fund his department.
Mr Hoon breached Whitehall protocol and wrote directly to Tony Blair asking him not to sanction a £1 billion annual cut in funding for the MoD, outlined in Wednesday’s annual Budget.
In a letter leaked to a newspaper before it reached No 10, Mr Hoon complained that his department could not operate properly under the cuts being threatened by the Treasury.
However, Mr Brown replied with an equally public rebuke for Mr Hoon, from both himself and prime minister Tony Blair. The pair told the defence secretary to get a grip on expenditure in his department and find savings.
The MoD came under fire over reports of troop equipment shortages in Iraq. Under the planned Budget cut, measures such as winter exercises in Norway for the Royal Marines, fast-jet training for RAF pilots, accommodation plans and naval exercises could be scrapped.
However, a spokesman for Downing Street pointed out last night that 2002 saw an annual rise of £2 billion a year in the MoD’s budget, the biggest increase for 20 years. He also explained that an extra £5 billion had been provided to finance operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Sierra Leone and the “war on terror”.
Treasury officials are adamant that problems in the MoD are caused by overspending, while defence officials are equally convinced that shortages are the direct result of pressure from the Treasury.
The heads of the three armed forces, led by General Sir Michael Walker, chief of the defence staff, have told ministers that they are forced to operate “hand to mouth” as a result of the budget cuts.
The Tory defence spokesman, Nicholas Soames, accused the defence secretary of years of complacency and denial over MoD finances.
A government spokesman accused Mr Hoon of, “attacking his own side” last night. He also pointed out that Mr Hoon has simply been asked, like other Whitehall departments, to make savings and the defence budget is due to rise from £29.2 billion this year to £30.7 billion by 2005-06.
The public dispute over MoD funding is likely to prove a blow to Labour’s plans to highlight Tory proposals to cut spending as part of the run up to next year’s election. Labour has already pledged to increase spending on the health service and education.
