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Defence

We ask a huge amount of our brave servicemen and women. But they have never been properly rewarded with the pay and conditions they deserve. They have been sent into conflict without proper equipment, have to put up with sub-standard housing and have been stretched to the limit by two wars. Too much MoD money has been frittered away through poor decisions and waste.

Liberal Democrats would make the welfare of the men and women of our armed forces a priority. We would speed up forces’ family housing renovation and ensure that no serviceman or woman was sent into harm’s way on less basic pay than the starting salaries of emergency services personnel. We would spend taxpayers’ money more effectively on equipping our armed forces properly for the military tasks of today and tomorrow.

Labour let down our Armed Forces. The quality of family housing is disgraceful. They have been stretched to breaking point through two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and suffer from a lack of equipment.

Britain needs to move away from a Cold War-style posture towards a more relevant armed forces structure. If we are to continue to have the capability to be a force for good in the world we need far greater cooperation with our NATO and EU partners.

Liberal Democrats do not believe that the UK can afford the billions of pounds the Government wants to spend on a like-for-like replacement of the Trident nuclear weapons system. Full-scale Trident is a cold war system that we no longer need nor can afford. We believe that less expensive alternatives should be considered.