The Labour Party have accused the last Conservative government of leaving just two major defence projects – 4 per cent of the total – running on time and on budget, when they left office in the summer.
According to a new report covering the last year of the Sunak Government, the Conservatives also saw an increase in ‘red-rated’ projects from five to eight: an increase of 60 per cent.
Labour say that the minister who oversaw this failure was James Cartlidge, who has since been promoted by Kemi Badenoch to Shadow Secretary of State for Defence.
Red-rated projects contain ‘major issues with project definition, schedule, budget, quality…which at this stage do not appear to be manageable or resolvable’. The Infrastructure and Projects Authority report, published this morning, shows that disastrous Tory mismanagement of major defence programmes left just two projects on time and on budget.
Of the 52 major defence projects included in the previous 2022-23 list, 10% were red-rated. The 2023-24 list, which covers only the Tory period in office, 16 per cent were red-rated.
According to the Labour press release the National Audit Office found a £17 billion black hole in the Ministry of Defence equipment plan under the Conservatives, whilst in 2023 the Commons Defence Committee declared defence procurement was ‘clearly broken’ under the previous government.
Since the General Election, the new Labour Government claim to have launched the biggest defence reform programme in 50 years, with John Healey – Labour’s Secretary of State for Defence – leading the reforms to fix procurement and create a stronger defence centre, delivering value for money and better outcomes for the Armed Forces.
Labour go on to say that Mark Francois, now a shadow defence minister, led the Defence Committee’s inquiry which found the procurement system ‘highly bureaucratic, overly stratified, far too ponderous, with an inconsistent approach to safety’ and ‘very poor accountability’. Francois himself called the system ‘dysfunctional’.
The minister in charge of Defence Procurement at the time of the damning report was James Cartlidge. As Shadow Defence Secretary, he now serves as Francois’s boss.
A Labour Party spokesperson said: “This report lays bare how 14 years of Tory mismanagement left major defence programmes in disarray. The Tories hollowed out our Armed Forces, wasted billions and bungled vital projects. Their credibility on defence is shot to bits.
“This Labour Government is working night and day to fix the broken procurement system we inherited, reform defence and get a grip on Tory delays and overspends.
“We will leave no stone unturned to expose Tory failures, get value for money for taxpayers and fix the foundations of Britain’s defence.”
We have asked the Conservative Party for their response, but at time of going to pixel none has been received.
Labour accuse bungling Tory ministers of leaving just 2 of 49 major defence projects running on time and on budget
