Queen’s Speech – no more defense cuts plea but bribery bill welcomed, A|D|S

Release Date: 2009-11-18

Defence spending as % of GDP halved compared to 20 years ago, industry leading on ethics

A|D|S, the UK's AeroSpace, Defence and Security trade organisation today (Wednesday) commented on the Queen's Speech setting out the Government's proposed legislative programme for the new Parliamentary session.

Further comments on relevant individual Bills will be forthcoming from A|D|S following more detailed analysis of their contents.

Ian Godden, Chairman of A|D|S, said:

“Any focus on reducing future Government expenditure in the Finance Bill should avoid further cuts in defence spending. At a time when our country is asking so much of our armed forces the financial support for them cannot be further eroded. Defence spending as a proportion of gross domestic product has halved over the past twenty years while other departments' budgets have soared. It is to those departments that the Government should look for further savings rather than the already-squeezed defence budget.

“As a nation, we are already suffering from this decline in the importance of defence in Government spending plans over a long period and further cuts will lead to a loss of national capability in the long run. It will also have a serious negative effect on both operations and the country's recovery from recession in the short term.

“We welcome the Bribery Bill. It is vital that we engage with Government, as we did when the Bill was in draft form, because we are determined to demonstrate how far our industry has come and how we can help others learn from our work. Defence employs over 300,000 people across the regions of the UK. We are committed to demonstrating how they work lawfully in our world-leading sector and we also cannot allow our opponents to paint a false picture of us and risk these jobs. Providing the guidance that goes with the Bill is clear once it is implemented as an Act it will assist companies to implement the Government's requirements because current legislation is opaque and confusing.

“Today the aerospace and defence industry in the UK is leading the way in promoting the adoption of ethical business practices and we welcome today's announcement of a Bribery Bill. The industry is working with Government and independent bodies such as Transparency International in combating corruption by establishing standards of behaviour and issuing guidance on how they can be implemented at all levels of the supply chain.”

Type:	NORMAL
Company:	A\|D\|S
Country:	United Kingdom