Spending review: Liam Fox speech on 'The Need for Defence Reform'

Spending review: Liam Fox speech on 'The Need for Defence Reform'; ENGLAND: London: The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors:INTDr Liam Fox (Defence Secretary) speech SOT - For many of us, the weeks after the election have produced mixed feelings. Relief that our long period in opposition is over - and a few of us spent all 13 years on the opposition front bench - and hope that we can produce something better for our country. But these positive notes are tempered by the growing knowledge that dealing with the dangerous deficit left behind by Labour will be difficult and painful. I set out at the Farnborough air show the two tasks which I believe I have as Secretary of State for Defence in addition to the war in Afghanistan. The first is to help deal with the deficit as part of the coalition cabinet, which understands that without healthy finances we can create neither the public services nor the national security we desire. The second is to carry out a long overdue Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR). It is a disgrace that Labour allowed 12 years to elapse without conducting a Defence review despite committing our Armed Forces to conflicts in the Balkans, Sierra Leone, Iraq and Afghanistan and with the enormous changes in the global security picture. This Government will not shirk our responsibility however hard the task may be.- Now, I didn't come into politics wishing to see a reduction in our Defence budget. Neither did David Cameron. Indeed, we have both often argued in the past that in a dangerous world – the world in which we live - there is a strong case to increase our spending on national security. But while we can never predict where events will take us or the unavoidable bills we will have to pay as a consequence, we must confront the ghastly truth of Labour's legacy. Next year the interest bill alone for Labour's debt will be over 46bn pounds - more than the entire Defence budget for the UK. The cuts that we are facing are Labour...