Labour's submarine-building plan a fantasy, Cartlidge tells Conservative conference
Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge has branded the Government's plan to build up to 12 new attack submarines a fantasy - saying it was the equivalent of him buying 12 Ferraris - an empty promise without the money behind it.
He also congratulated submarine personnel who had just returned from a long deployment.
And on the subject of uncrewed aerial vehicles, he said the UK could be leading the drone revolution - but Labour was stifling the cash after only buying three.
Conservative realism defence and foreign policy approach
Mr Cartlidge also vowed to protect veterans who served in Northern Ireland from prosecutions.
He was speaking as the Conservative conference continues in Manchester, and BFBS Forces News has been looking at how the Tories' defence policies stack up.
During a speech in February at the Policy Exchange think-tank, party leader Kemi Badenoch sought to define the Conservative Party's defence and foreign policy approach around conservative realism.
The North West Essex MP outlined that the UK needs to define its national interest and elaborated that, in her view, "national interest means a strong military and a strong economy".
She backed international alliances like Nato and international partnerships such as Aukus, the trilateral security and defence partnership between the US, Australia and the UK, but argued that the UK should not be "naive" about international affairs.
The former business and trade secretary stated that the UK should "get serious within our nation" as time spent on other frivolous debates means there is less time to deal with the UK's potential enemies, and said that the UK should be aware of the country's past foreign policy failures, including the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021 and the collapse of Libya into a failed state.
Defence spending
Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, has pledged to slash development aid from 0.3% to 0.1% of Gross National Income (GNI) if the Conservatives come top in the next general election, according to Sky News.
Mrs Badenoch has said that some of the international aid spending would go into the defence budget instead.
"For example, he [Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer] should consider whether some of the 0.5% currently spent on development aid should be repurposed – at least in the short term – towards defence and security," she said.
"And he should look at making welfare savings to fund increased defence expenditure."
This is part of the Conservatives' strategy to encourage Labour to increase defence spending to 3% of GDP over the next five years, as it will get to 2.6% by 2027 under the Labour government's plans currently.
The leader of the opposition has stated that raising defence spending will help the UK rearm its Armed Forces by obtaining "the new kinds of weapons", for example, drones, efficiently, that have been used in Ukraine.
Mr Cartlidge said that the UK could be at the forefront of the drone industry, but that, instead, the Labour Party has only bought three drones in this financial year.
"The UK could be leading a drone revolution," the South Suffolk MP added.
The shadow cabinet minister told the Conservative Party conference that Labour's plan to procure up to 12 attack submarines is "a fantasy".
He also suggested that the Labour Party will reconfigure defence spending, so that it includes other irrelevant funds.
"Defence spending could soon be redefined to include rural broadband, the Lower Thames Crossing, and civil scientific research vessels," Mr Cartlidge said.
"I kid you not, in future, UK defence spending could include Boaty McBoatface."
Ukraine
Mrs Badenoch's ideas and philosophy are outlined in her policy prospectus, a form of manifesto, that documents where she wants the party to go under her leadership.
In the document, the party said that they "are backing Ukraine to the hilt in their war against Russian aggression".
The Conservative Party leader has criticised the West's response to the Ukraine war, as she said the West has not given adequate help to Ukraine.
"We helped prevent Kyiv [from] falling and supported Ukraine in regaining territory initially lost to Russia," she added.
"We were too ineffective, too indecisive and too often behind the curve."
Mr Cartlidge, in his speech, questioned Reform UK's leader Nigel Farage's response to the Ukraine conflict when it first broke out, as Mr Farage blamed Nato for the war.
"Whose side was he [Nigel Farage] on as our continent was suddenly threatened with war for the first time since 1945," he said.
"That day, he chose to blame Nato for provoking Putin [Russia's president]."
After the recent airspace violations across Europe in countries such as Poland, Estonia and Romania, the minister backed Nato to respond.
"[Vladimir] Putin is deliberately testing our resolve, and in response, we must stand strong with our Nato allies and be prepared to take all necessary action to defend ourselves," he said.
Armed Forces Housing Association
The Conservatives would allow a new housing association, the Armed Forces Housing Association, to lead on military homes to stop personnel leaving the three services and deal with the "poor" military housing stock.
The association will create homes fit for service personnel, Mr Cartlidge said.
A House of Commons Defence Committee report revealed that damp, mould, and rat infestations have been causing problems in military housing.
The shadow defence secretary said he was "genuinely ashamed" of the quality of housing that he saw when he was the defence procurement minister.
The brand-new housing association would be a mutual organisation, and service families would be able to sit on the board.
Mr Cartlidge has claimed that the association will be backed by the budget used for defence housing and that it will generate £80m in savings.
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