North East Fife MP Sir Menzies Campbell has written to the new Secretary of State for Defence, Philip Hammond, to ask him to look again at the basing review which will result in the RAF leaving its base at Leuchars and the Army taking occupancy.
Sir Menzies commented,
“Questions are legitimately being raised about the credibility of the MoD’s plans for Scotland and in particular whether they can be adequately financed. The new Defence Secretary needs to address these as a matter of urgency.â€
Sir Menzies’ letter is as follows:
“The Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP
Secretary of State for Defence
Floor 5, Main Building
Ministry of Defence
Whitehall
London SW1A 2HB
19th October 2011
Dear Philip,
Many congratulations on your new appointment, which comes at a testing time for the proper defence of the United Kingdom.
You may by now be aware of the proposed changes to be made to the military presence in Scotland as announced by your predecessor in a statement to the House on 18th July 2011.
I believe that your appointment is an opportunity for these measures to be reconsidered. In my opinion they run counter to strategic defence objectives and fail to stand up to scrutiny.
The changes which will radically affect the defence footprint in Scotland have been constructed in such a way that, should one element fail to be realised, there will be a domino effect across the rest of the country, with all three of the services affected and the local communities which host them thrown into uncertainty.
As a result of the basing review RAF Leuchars in my constituency of North East Fife is scheduled to become an Army base. The Typhoons currently stationed at RAF Leuchars will be transferred to RAF Lossiemouth from where they will undertake the Quick Reaction Alert (North) role presently fulfilled effectively and professionally at Leuchars.
There has been an RAF presence in Fife for almost a century. For the last forty years the base at Leuchars has been responsible for patrolling and protecting the skies of the northern half of the United Kingdom. Personnel at the base have executed their duties at home and abroad with exemplary commitment and, together with their families, have become much valued members of the Fife community.
The strategic importance of the base cannot be overstated. Its close proximity to primary population centres and sensitive installations in Scotland and the north of England and in addition the speed with which its aircraft can augment the air defence of the south of England are directly relevant to the objectives of the National Security Strategy. It is believed that the recommendations made at the highest level in the Royal Air Force were for the retention of Leuchars as an RAF base. Yet strategic defence considerations appear to have been outweighed by economic considerations.
Parliamentary answers from your Department have intimated that the cost of transferring the Typhoons from RAF Leuchars to RAF Lossiemouth and the long-term cost of operating the aircraft from the more northern base are expected to be mitigated by sales of properties in the defence estate in Scotland. It is a reasonable inference that it will cost more to operate the Typhoon from Lossiemouth, not least because of the new infrastructure required at Lossiemouth. The savings your Department hopes to achieve in Scotland are dependent on the sale of ‘high value’ properties in and around Edinburgh. Questions have now legitimately been raised about the credibility of the estimates of the proceedings of such sales given the current state of the economy and the fact that buildings such as Redford Barracks (which has been identified for sale) are listed.
A possible outcome for my constituency which gives rise to widespread concern is that the Royal Air Force will vacate the base at Leuchars only for the army to fail to take occupancy, or at best take only partial occupancy, because of funding uncertainty and the predicted further net reduction in the number of army personnel (despite the return of troops from Germany). The risk is that the Royal Air Force will have been relocated from a strategically important base for ostensible financial reasons which will fail to result in any savings to the public purse. Fife will suffer the loss of the RAF at Leuchars only for the promised Army presence not to be realised.
I hope you will be able to review these basing decisions with particular emphasis on their financial implications.
Yours sincerely,
Menzies Campbellâ€
