Defence

Lincolnshire is proud of part it has played - and continues to play - in the defense of our country. Many local Conservatives have served in the army and the air force. All of us salute the courage and commitment of the men and women currently serving in our armed forces. But a decade of neglect by the Labour government has left our armed forces overstretched, undermanned, and in possession of worn-out equipment.

A Conservative Government will match resources with commitments by launching a Strategic Defence Review and introducing a US-style system of quadrennial defence reviews. It is completely unacceptable that the last Strategic Defence Review was conducted a decade ago.

Future defence procurement projects will be determined on five criteria:

  1. Capability
  2. Interoperability
  3. Adaptability
  4. Affordability
  5. Exportability

We will streamline the procurement process to ensure the speedy delivery of equipment to the front line. And we will immediately reinstate the Defence Export Services Organisation (DESO) to ensure a healthy UK defence sector.

We will oppose the defence provisions in the Lisbon Treaty and ensure that Nato, not the EU, remains the cornerstone of our nation's defence. And we are committed to maintaining the UK's nuclear deterrent.

Most importantly, a Conservative Government will repair the broken Military Covenant, respect our Armed Forces, and ensure that Forces' families and veterans are taken care of.


Nick Boles

07 JAN 2010

Let the voters have their say

While most people in the country have been worrying about how to get to work through the snow and ice and who's going to look after their children while their school is closed, everyone in Westminster has spent the last two days talking about the latest Labour plot to get rid of Gordon Brown.  I don't know about you but I am heartily sick of these stories.  Gordon Brown has been Prime Minister for the last two years.  The British people had no say in his election to that office.   At the very least, they deserve an opportunity to pass their own verdict on his tenure of it.  And a general election is the way to let them do it.

05 JAN 2010

My NHS, your NHS, our NHS

David Cameron has kicked off the Conservatives' campaign for change with a billboard promising cuts in the budget deficit and not the NHS.  Our opponents doubt the depth and sincerity of the Conservatives' commitment to the NHS.  But I hope that no-one will doubt David Cameron's - or mine.  David has talked of the huge debt he and his family owe the NHS for the way doctors and nurses looked after Ivan and helped make his short life a more bearable one.  What some of you may not know is that I have my own personal reason to thank the NHS.  In the spring of 2007, before I moved to Lincolnshire, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease,  a cancer of the lymph system.  Although I had private health insurance at the time, I relied on the NHS for every aspect of my treatment.  And the care I received throughout several months of chemotherapy and radiotherapy was superb.  Can the NHS be reformed and improved?  Of course it can.  But can I countenance a Britain without it?  Over my dead body.