Today we launch a Review in Defence Procurement. Working alongside me and Shadow Minister for Defence Equipment, Michael Dugher, will be a panel of distinguished figures acting as advisers. The review will bring together military, defence and business expertise to focus on both security and industrial priorities.  The Review Team will include:

• Bill Thomas, former Senior Vice President and General Manager (EMEA) for Hewlett-Packard Company
• Tony Roulstone, former Managing Director of Rolls-Royce Nuclear
• Lord Alan West, former Chief of the Naval Staff and First Sea Lord

In an article for UK Defence Forum’s ‘Defence Viewpoints’  I outline the objectives of the Review. We must face up to and learn lessons from the mistakes of the past in order to identify urgent improvements in defence procurement.
  
Labour’s record on defence is strong, but despite all the investment and improvements, some of the problems which plagued all Governments continued.  We have to be big enough to acknowledge mistakes were made. We are determined to learn lessons from mistakes and make changes for the future. Our priority in this review will be to find ways to speed up and reduce costs of delivery.
 
Our review will be open and consultative, reflective of how we believe the relationships between the MoD, industry and the Service Commands should be conducted. Our review process will consult academia, industry, ex and current military figures and the general public.
 
The Review will be in stark contrast to the Government’s insular, short term SDSR which has left a £4.3bn black hole, a £15bn overspend and a dent in the morale of our Forces. Next week the Government set out their Industrial Strategy Review, but it is deeply concerning that this is disconnected from the National Security Strategy, the SDSR and wider economic policy-making.”
 
The review process will include visits to every region of the UK, meetings with every large company in the defence sector and the supply chain, evidence from defence academia, trade unions and online consultation.
 
The Defence Procurement Review is part of a wider policy review being undertaken by the Shadow Defence Team, which has five strands:

• Procurement Reform
• Future Armed Forces
• Future Threats, Future Posture
• Future of the Military Covenant
• International Defence Institutions

All this work will only be successful if you are involved. We will be conducting online discussions as part of the reviews’ consultation processes, but please do leave your thoughts and comments. I want our work to be informed by experts and reflective of the passions and interest I know people have in defence within the Labour movement and beyond.