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Defence

Britain as a sovereign nation state must be prepared at all times to defend her independence. The Time Party will maintain the country's independent nuclear deterrent and adequately and responsibly resource our armed forces with a view to increasing their strength.

The United Kingdom as a sovereign nation state must be prepared in both peace time and times of conflict :

  • to defend her territorial and political independence,

  • protect her interests at home and abroad, and

  • be able to call on disciplined trained resources to support the community.

The Time Party acknowledges with deep gratitude the role that the British armed forces have played for many years, at home and abroad, in times of crisis.  They have supported our civil resources magnificently, and they must be adequately resourced to do so in future. 

The Time Party will …

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Restructure Ministry of Defence

There is considerable waste, bureaucracy and inefficiencies at the Ministry of Defence.  This impacts negatively on value for money from the MoD budget, and effectiveness of its functions.

The TIME Party will restructure the Ministry of Defence, streamlining logistics & administration, ensuring that all the services are brought up to modern standards.

Promote UK procurement

The MOD forced-bias towards international suppliers and outsourcing has weakened the ability of our military services to procure equipment from UK industry.

The TIME Party will promote competitive tendering by defence contractors, with an emphasis and focus on UK manufactured suppliers wherever possible.

Reorganise & Rejuvenate

The TIME Party will implement a new Defence Review whereby all the existing Services are reorganised in conjunction with the Coastguard and incorporating a rejuvenated Fleet Air Arm capability and Homeland Security division (working directly with the Home Office).

The UK must be independent on key modern infrastructure, e.g. a UK-controlled satellite program.

Past armed forces reviews have weakened morale. We will reverse this and revive powerful traditional attributes such as regimental identities and loyalties.

Harness Talent

The TIME Party will encourage all Services to adopt an open age admissions policy up to the age of 70.  Deployment and allocation of personnel should be an operational decision, not a recruitment constraint.

TIME believes that the armed services should harness those with experience who may be able to provide a valuable input to the structure of all our Services.

Those with former Combined Cadet Forces experience should be encouraged to participate in this regeneration of our Services.

Support Veterans

The Military Covenant is an important commitment from the nation to its military personnel. It must be respected with more than lip-service.  Too many have suffered by neglected welfare and politically &#8216;woke&#8217; prosecutions.

The TIME Party will support veteran rehabilitation via housing and a job guarantee within the Police, HM Prison Service, port & airport security, UK Border Agency & Enforcement and other opportunities in the newly revised Armed Services.

Support a reformed NATO

The principles of NATO remain important. Despite being geographically and politically close to EU members who derive massive benefit from it, NATO is not equitably supported by all members.

The TIME Party will ensure UK continues to support NATO upon the understanding that all participating Nations commit properly to a new budget with military & logistical focus.

Maintain a Nuclear Deterrent

The changing political world has not removed all threats.  These continue to exist in different forms, evolving faster than can be predicted.  We must be ready to combat these threats, and will preserve the ultimate deterrent.

The TIME Party will maintain the UK’s independent nuclear deterrent which must be fully under British control. The ‘Trident Nuclear Programme’ will be maintained.

Ensure a Common Mission

The primary role of the Armed Forces is to carry out the government&#8217;s wishes and provide civil aid to the community.

The TIME Party believes that all those in UK Armed Services, Coastguard and Border forces & Police etc should work effortlessly together to support the safety of all British & Commonwealth citizens first and foremost.

Proposal Status

This proposal has an equivalent status to a Green Paper.

We invite feedback and contributions by email to policies@timeparty.uk. We will further refine the Proposal and migrate it into a White Paper after consultations.

We welcome input from those with armed forces experience who have views on how the Ministry of Defence could better support operational units.

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