LibertarianFebruaryManifesto2018

Defence and the Armed Forces
Despite the courage and professionalism demonstrated by the
armed forces; the British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force
have been eroded by a severe lack of investment. The Libertarian
Party will always support the armed forces, believing they
should be ready to face any threat at any time and, if necessary,
act independently.
When it comes to our national defence, the Conservatives have
invested the bare minimum of 2% of GDP. The mainstream
parties all believe the same: That you can cut defence spending
to the bone yet still maintain an adequate defence. You can’t.
We will end cuts to the size of army and will make the investment
needed to make our military robust and well equipped. To
keep the Citizens of the United Kingdom safe.
Clever accounting tricks by the establishment parties mean
that the single intelligence account and Trident Programme are
included in the defence budget. This allows them to meet the
2% target set by NATO. This has paved the way for cuts to the
size of our army. The Libertarian Party will reverse these cuts
and increase the size of our army to 100,000 troops. We will
also aim to increase the number of reservists to the same figure.
In order to be able to properly fund our defence, pay for
veteran care and purchase the quality equipment the military
deserve, we must be willing to make the investment needed.
Therefore, the Libertarian Party will increase MoD annual
spending by no less than £18 billion over four years. This
represents an annual budget of around 3% of GDP, right where
it should be.
Our Royal Navy and Royal Air Force are the first line of
defence. However, they are woefully under equipped and under
manned. Our investment into defence will combat these shortages
to ensure Britain can be properly defended from all
threats. To this end, we will conduct a defence review and
expand both branches where necessary with the goal of ensuring
Britain can face any threat, anywhere and at any time. We
also pledge to increase the number of Royal Marines, the
embodiment of a flexible and effective fighting force.
We will overhaul the wasteful defence procurement process.
Too many times, equipment and infrastructure procurement
has been delayed whilst coming in far over budget. This is
unacceptable.
We will revise the Armed Forces’ terms of service, to ensure
personnel on operational duty overseas do not pay income tax.
Likewise, we will commit to demolishing and replacing dilapidated
MoD housing stock to allow military families to live in
comfort.
We will always support an independent continuous at-sea
nuclear deterrent and the replacement of the Trident Programme.
This is an integral component of our
defence. We shall launch a review into how to best PAGE 19