Liam Fox takes aim at military top brass

The number of senior military officers could be cut in an attempt to curb spending in the Ministry of Defence, the defence secretary, Liam Fox, said today. In a speech setting out his vision for the future of the MoD, Fox said the reforms were intended to make the department leaner, less centralised and more effective. He said military chiefs would be given greater control over the armed services as he attempted to sweeten what he described as "difficult and painful" cuts he blamed on the "dangerous deficit" left by the Labour government. Fox said it was a "ghastly truth" that Labour had left the department with a £37bn "unfunded liability" over the next 10 years. However, he made no specific commitments on cuts, which are not expected to be announced until October. In a speech at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Fox – who has just returned from his second visit to Afghanistan as defence secretary – said the MoD would be reorganised into three pillars: policy and strategy, the armed forces, and procurement and estates. He said there would also need to be a "cultural shift which will see a leaner and less centralised organisation combined with devolved processes which carry greater accountability and transparency". Fox announced that a defence reform unit was being set up under Lord Levene to guide the "hard thinking" and complement the ongoing strategic defence and security review. Levene will work with the permanent secretary, the chief of the defence staff and service chiefs to find ways of devolving greater responsibility for the running of the services themselves. "We need to review all our current practices to ensure that we are using our greatest asset – our people – to the best of their ability," Fox said. The review, due to report by September 2011, will look at the current structure of senior ranks and practices such as tour lengths and intervals. "We will also consider whether the current senior rank structure across the services is appropriate for the post-SDSR [strategic defence and security review] world. We cannot demand efficiency from the lower ranks while exempting those at the top," Fox said. Fox said the changes represented a "radical agenda for change" and a "once in a lifetime opportunity" that demonstrated the commitment of the prime minister and coalition government to the creation of a defence department fit for future needs. The MoD faces having its £36.9bn annual budget cut by between 10% and 20% as part of Whitehall spending cuts. Reductions in personnel in the navy, army and RAF, as well as cuts in equipment projects, are being assessed by the SDSR. Reports suggest the army could lose one of its brigades in Germany, the navy could suffer the cancellation of one of two new aircraft carriers, the Royal Marines could be brought under the army's control and the RAF could shrink to its smallest size since the first world war. Fox today denied that there were any plans to merge the three services. In opposition, Fox said he wanted to cut the MoD's running costs by 25%, criticising the fact that it had 85,000 civil servants compared to an army of 100,000 soldiers. The strategic review is examining all options as it assesses Britain's future defence needs, apart from the question of whether to replace the Trident nuclear deterrent, which is already a government commitment. However, Fox and the chancellor, George Osborne, are locked in battle over who should foot the £20bn bill. Previously, Trident was funded directly by the Treasury. The results of the strategic review will be announced at the end of October.