Letter: MoD makes cuts with great care

RE: ANGUS Robertson's column (Insight, 16 January). This year, the United Kingdom will pay in the region of £44 billion in interest on the debt the coalition government in Westminster inherited from its Labour predecessor.

This is the difficult background the coalition government faced when approaching the Strategic Defence and Security Review published in October. To make matters worse, Labour had mismanaged the defence budget to such an extent that we couldn't afford to procure or sustain all the equipment they planned to order. So tough decisions had to be made that would affect communities in every part of the UK, including Scotland.

We simply can't afford everything we would like. The decision to cancel the Nimrod programme was one of the most difficult choices. But if, as we reluctantly decided, we can't afford to keep it, it would have been financial folly not to cancel it.

The Ministry of Defence is charged with the defence of the United Kingdom. It would not be sensible to organise defence spending on the basis of a geographic quota. But we do have to be sensitive to the links that local communities have with the defence establishments in their region. We are acutely aware that behind every decision we have taken are people and families who through no fault of their own face an uncertain future.

We are doing all we can to manage this sensitively and provide care and support. We are working with the Scotland Office and Scottish Government, with other government departments, and with the local authorities and communities affected, to make sure we all work together effectively to address issues arising from any base closures. Michael Moore has been a steadfast advocate of Scotland's concerns on this within the government. Liam Fox, the Defence Secretary, has also discussed them with Alex Salmond, and with all party leaders from Scotland. I am visiting RAF Kinloss in the near future to listen to what those most affected have to say.

We don't yet know precisely what our future basing requirements are. Just because the RAF will no longer need RAF Kinloss and two other bases does not necessarily mean the Armed Forces have no further use for them. So we have work under way to determine the best way forward. Until this is completed in the coming months, we won't be taking final decisions on the future of Kinloss, Lossiemouth, Leuchars, or a number of other bases around the UK.

In short, we recognise our decisions in the Strategic Defence and Security Review have consequences for Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom. We will manage these sensibly and sensitively, working with the Scottish Government where appropriate.

Nick Harvey, Armed Forces Minister