General Election 2010 - Conservative Party Armed Forces Manifesto.

Being a great supporter of the Armed Forces (served in the Royal Navy for 16 years) I am very pleased to see the Conservatives (Liam Fox) have launched an Armed Forces Manifesto. Here are some of the key points:

Clear leadership from government. To ensure our personnel have the resources to match their commitments, we will protect the defence budget for 2010-11 and immediately conduct a full Strategic Defence and Security Review, with regular further reviews every four to five years. We will create a National Security Council to which opposition parties will be invited, to build consensus on decision-making. We will maintain a submarine-based nuclear deterrent, based on Trident, to ensure we are protected from nuclear threats in the long term. And we will re-examine the Ministry of Defence (MoD) budget to ensure it is spent wisely.

Equipping our Armed Forces. We will reform procurement to make the system more efficient and ensure that equipment is delivered when our Armed Forces need it at a reasonable cost to the taxpayer. All decisions on defence equipment will be determined by five clear criteria: capability, affordability, adaptability, interoperability, and exportability.

Supporting our servicemen and women. We will establish a tri-Service Military Covenant that will articulate our commitment to the men and women of the Armed Forces. We support our Forces personnel in Afghanistan and remain committed to the necessary operation there, and our strategy will have a clear focus on security and the training of the Afghan National Security Forces. The operational allowance for those serving in Afghanistan will be doubled and we will maximise their rest and recuperation time. We will change the service voting registration rules so Forces personnel do not get disenfranchised due to changes made by Labour, and we will look at changing the law to stop unfair discrimination against personnel.

Supporting our Service families and children. We will work with unit welfare officers and Service charities in providing proper relationship support to our Service families, whom we know can come under huge strain. Service children will get extra support through schools to compensate for the disruptions they experience. And we will provide university and college scholarships for the children of servicemen and women killed on active duty since 1990.

Supporting our veterans. We will offer far better help for Service leavers to settle into civilian life after leaving the Armed Forces. We will establish Britain’s first state-funded post-traumatic stress disorder treatment programme and offer better back-to-work support. We will offer veterans who have undertaken an active tour of service a new route into the teaching profession and we will also pay the university tuition fees of anyone who has undertaken a tour of active service who wants to take a first degree.