Wallace has ‘not thought about legacy’ forward of paper on armed pressure’s future
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utgoing Defence Secretary Ben Wallace stated he has not considered his legacy forward of the publication of a paper that can set out the armed forces’ future.
Mr Wallace, who has been Defence Secretary since 2019, stated on Saturday he’ll stand down as an MP on the subsequent basic election.
He instructed The Sunday Times his departure is because of the pressure the job has put his household life beneath.
On Tuesday, the long-awaited defence command paper will probably be printed.
It will set out how the UK will make investments an extra £2.5 billion in stockpiles and a worldwide response pressure.
An additional £400 million will probably be spent on modernising personnel lodging.
The report will even define how funding in science and expertise will probably be prioritised as a part of an effort to modernise the armed forces.
I do not consider legacies, I simply suppose it is the pure step
Despite its publication being one among his final main actions as Defence Secretary, Mr Wallace stated he doesn’t consider it as his legacy – however as fulfilling a debt he owed to servicemen and girls.
“I don’t think of legacies, I just think it’s the natural step,” he stated.
“We started talking about this at the beginning of the year; there was a commitment to the integration of review refresh, which obviously was going to trigger this.
“I was determined that the lessons from Ukraine were brought forward and so that people now know what we need to do and I think that’s important.”
Mr Wallace stated he arrived within the division with the view it was not “threat-led” sufficient.
“I’d always arrived in the department with the view that, having been security minister, the department wasn’t threat-led enough. It wasn’t responding to threat quick enough. And I think we’ve laid that.
“But this is not about legacy, I owe it to the men and women of the armed forces to import the lessons of Ukraine to make sure where we’re investing we’re doing so on the right track.”
There has been hypothesis the paper will advocate cuts to the Army’s dimension, with some stories saying it would shrink from 75,000 personnel to 73,000.
Mr Wallace stated the dialogue about personnel numbers has been a “distraction from the simple realities”.
He stated: “We have carried a force for many, many decades, both under the Labour government and the Conservative government, where we focused on numbers and hollowed out behind.
“That’s not what I’ve ever done as Defence Secretary. I’ve increased the funding – a significant rise in real-term funding to defence.
“I’ve made sure that we were invested in reversing some of that hollowing out, to make sure that what we offer to the Government and to the British people is what we can deliver on the tin.
“There is no point having an armed forces just for the parade ground.”
Mr Wallace stated he was ready to talk out as a backbencher if Mr Sunak didn’t follow his promise to extend navy spending to 2.5% of GDP within the run-up to the election.
Asked if he would maintain the Prime Minister’s “feet to the fire” as soon as he steps down in September, Mr Wallace stated: “What I will say is that it is important that everyone sticks to the pledges that they have made.”
Mr Wallace performed a key function within the UK’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The British Army is being reduce to its smallest dimension since Napoleon and there’s nonetheless no plan to make sure our Nato obligations are fulfilled in full
His Wyre and Preston North constituency in Lancashire will disappear on the subsequent basic election due to boundary modifications and he stated he is not going to search a brand new seat.
He is believed to have instructed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on June 16 of his plans to face down from Cabinet.
On Monday, Mr Sunak praised Mr Wallace’s “distinguished” profession.
Labour warned that the defence plan was “not a good enough response to war in Europe”.
Shadow defence secretary John Healey stated Mr Wallace “must explain if he is pledging new money for stockpiles or these are funds already announced.
“The British Army is being cut to its smallest size since Napoleon and there is still no plan to ensure our Nato obligations are fulfilled in full.”