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Search forTory chief outlines defence strategy
Thursday, October 02, 2008, 07:00
Shadow Defence Secretary Liam Fox told delegates in Birmingham that maintaining a strong UK defence manufacturing industry will not be the "primary driving force" of Tory procurement policy.
Dr Fox signalled a Conservative government would be eager to buy "off the shelf" from the United States, rather than entering costly new manufacturing projects with European allies.
Dr Fox said: "It is important that we maintain a defence industrial base but we can't allow that to become the primary driving force in our procurement policy.
"Our procurement policy is to ensure we have adequate defence for our country – that means giving our armed forces what they need when they need it.
"We can't begin from the other position otherwise we will end up subsidising a bigger and bigger industrial base for political reasons.
"We mustn't allow ourselves to become victims of blackmail from any part of our industrial sector."
He indicated the Tories would be more willing to buy US equipment.
"I am very explicit. I would like to shift British procurement towards the US. I think our cooperation with Europe has been largely catastrophic," he said.
Dr Fox's comments drew sharp criticism from Labour MP for Plymouth Devonport Alison Seabeck, who branded them as 'ill-informed'.
She said: "The spectre of a Tory government looking to buy from overseas must worry people whose jobs depend on the success of the defence industry in Plymouth.
"That's not just people in the dockyard, but the whole wider city economy and beyond. It's quite reliant on the high quality jobs maintained in the dockyard.
"I think his comments are a little ill-informed. Certainly the work produced in Plymouth is not only of a very high quality, but also very cost-effective and efficient.
"It's all very well Dr Fox talking about considering buying from the US, but these things are never that simple, because you have to have systems that are wholly compatible. This is not always the case."
Labour MP for Plymouth Sutton Linda Gilroy, who sits on the Commons defence select committee, said: "It completely unpicks the whole of the basis of the Defence Industrial Strategy, where we preserve our sovereign capabilities."
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