Bring back the Harriers, urges expert

Published on Thursday 7 April 2011 18:58

PRESSURE was mounting on the government last night to reconsider its programme of defence cuts after a senior military expert claimed that the Libyan crisis showed that ministers had got it wrong.

Andrew Dorman, a military adviser to the government, called on ministers to make a "brave" decision and reconsider their decision to scrap the Harrier jump jets, inset, and not have an operational aircraft carrier for a decade.

The call by Mr Dorman, of the Ministry of Defence's Joint Services Command and Staff College, led to renewed pleas from opposition parties for a complete rethink of the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR), which was only published late last year.

In an article, Mr Dorman wrote that the government had gone for an assumption of conflict avoidance, but had now gone against its own planning by intervening in Libya.

Last night, Labour's shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy said: "The government's rushed defence review hasn't survived the first contact with world events.

"Senior military figures are calling on the government to rethink and revisit their review.I hope the government will listen to Andrew Dorman, who has called the cuts 'embarrassing' and who worryingly says cuts to Harrier and Ark Royal will impede Britain's ability to respond militarily to crises."

Meanwhile, Labour defence committee member Thomas Docherty, the MP for Dunfermline and West Fife, who is on a trip to America for talks with military and political figures, claimed that the UK's lack of aircraft carrier capability had "turned Britain into a laughing stock".

Mr Docherty said: "They think we are crazy over here with what is going on. But I think there are worries too, particularly about future capacity and capabilities.

"By not having aircraft flying off aircraft carriers over the next few years it means we will lose expertise and will have to build up our strength again from a very low base."

But yesterday the government insisted that it would not revisit the SDSR. It said that it had been left with no choice but make difficult decisions because of the "38 billion black hole" left by the previous Labour government. However, ministers also said they hope to start increasing defence spending from 2015.