LABOUR CHOICES CONDEMNED OVER DEFENCE CUTS SPECULATION

LABOUR CHOICES CONDEMNED OVER DEFENCE CUTS SPECULATION

Commenting on speculation by UK Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth on the BBC Politics Show today (Sunday) on cuts to defence spending on conventional programmes, SNP Westminster leader and Defence spokesperson Angus Robertson said:

“Speculation of cuts and closures to vital bases and defence programmes is just contemptible when our forces are already overstretched and under-resourced, and while the UK Government still insist on wasting billions on Trident nuclear weapons renewal.

“The fact is that Gordon Brown’s government is already responsible for a £4.3billion defence underspend in Scotland, and 9,500 defence jobs have been lost in Scotland since Labour came to power – that is an appalling record. Downing Street keep making the wrong choices on cuts whether its equipment, training, aircraft and bases while blowing billions on a new generation of Trident nuclear weapons.”