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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics

Defence spending: how to keep Britain safe without wasting money

Al Carns John Healey Britain United Kingdom Andy Mitchell France the Ministry of Defence
A member of the Queen's Royal Hussars (R) and two members of Royal Tank Regiment (L and C) sit on a tank as they take part in a training session of British forces and Challengers tanks at the Ministry of Defence (MOD) training base in southern England in 2023
A training session at a Ministry of Defence base in southern England. Photograph: Daniel Leal/AFP/Getty Images

Your interview with Al Carns was welcome (‘Unbelievable’ waste and inefficiency at MoD, says ex-defence minister Al Carns, 16 June). Those of us who have visited the procurement headquarters at Abbey Wood in Bristol will recognise exactly what he is describing. But two questions went unasked.

First, given the £18bn defence funding gap, what ballpark contribution could genuinely reformed procurement make to closing it? A rough order of magnitude would sharpen the debate considerably.

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