Michael Fallon's speech to the Conservative conference

75 years ago this autumn ‘The Few’ went up to defend our skies.

The Battle of Britain was fought by men like Tony Pickering and Ken Wilkinson then aged just 20 and 22.

Despite their youth they were not overawed.

Indeed Ken has said, “We were cocky, stupidly cocky if you like. We just didn’t envisage defeat. We knew we were going to win.”

Against immense odds the heroes of RAF Fighter Command lifted the threat of invasion and showed Hitler that we would never surrender.

75 years on, I am delighted that Flying Officer Ken Wilkinson and Squadron Leader Tony Pickering are here today so that we can pay tribute to them and all those who fought so bravely.

They weren’t just defending Britain.

They were fighting against fascism, fighting for the values we hold dear – freedom, the rule of law, the right to choose a government.

That’s what our servicemen and women are doing today - supporting democratic governments in Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Mali.  

In fact today we have some four thousand servicemen and women serving on 21 operations around the world – twice as many as five years ago. That’s in addition to the nine thousand stationed from the Falklands to Brunei, from Cyprus to Kenya.

               

Keeping us safe 24/7.  Often out of sight, but never out of mind.

To those who last week questioned the relevance and power of our Armed Forces, let me tell you that only the United States is doing more around the world.

And here at home our pilots, sailors, and bomb disposal teams are protecting our territorial waters and airspace and assisting counter terrorism operations.

I am fortunate to have a strong team of defence ministers –Philip Dunne, Penny Mordaunt, Freddy Howe, Mark Lancaster and Julian Brazier ably supported by and Kris Hopkins, Graham Evans and Oliver Colville.

But keeping Britain safe doesn’t depend on defence ministers – it depends on the almost two hundred thousand men and women who wear the Queen’s uniform.

Every single one of them deserves our heartfelt gratitude.

They also deserve our support.  We are making sure that the unsung heroes, our service families, can enjoy the stability and security of owning their home. As of today, our Forces’ Help to Buy scheme has enabled five thousand people to buy their home:  I want to double that to ten thousand ‘homes for heroes’ in the next 12 months.

And we’ll do more. To help those posted overseas, the major mobile phone companies have agreed to allow family members to put their contracts on hold while they are away. We are working to ensure it’s easier to access financial services and get a credit rating. And we will strengthen the Covenant to give our veterans a better chance of getting a job.

We will do our duty to them, as they do their duty for us.

Conference, last year I warned that this was no time to drop our guard or to lower defence spending. 

The general election showed that the British people want a government that delivers both national security and economic security.

That’s what we are delivering.

In the first Conservative budget for 19 years our Prime Minister and Chancellor put defence first.

Already the fifth biggest in the world, our defence spending will now increase every year and we will meet that NATO commitment to spend 2% of GDP on defence not just this year, but every year of this decade.

We can only afford to do that because we have a strong economy.

My department’s budget may be rising again but there will be no let-up in getting more value for money.  From now on every pound saved can be reinvested in the front-line, not handed back to the Treasury.

Each service is committing to greater efficiency, for example...

The Army will cut the cost of leasing and hiring vehicles by 10%.

The Royal Navy will in the future have three hundred fewer officers but six hundred more sailors to man our ships and submarines.

The Royal Air Force will save over £250m through better use of our Voyager Airtanker fleet.

Efficiency savings mean we will be able to spend more on cyber, more on unmanned aircraft, more on the latest technology, keeping ahead of our adversaries.

Labour’s approach couldn’t be more different – or more dangerous. How did they respond to their election defeat?

By electing a leader who would weaken our national security – who would scrap Trident, leave NATO, and can’t think of circumstances in which he would use our Armed Forces.

This is no time for Britain to retreat from the world, to let terror triumph, or to put our people in peril.

So the first thing we do today is renew our resolve to face down the growing threats to our security and prosperity.

ISIL is the most serious threat to Britain in a generation – butchering and brutalising innocent civilians.

For over a year now our pilots have flown day and night in the fight against ISIL. We are training more Iraqi forces in infantry skills and countering improvised explosives as they push ISIL back.

ISIL’s terror in Iraq and against us here is directed from northern Syria. ISIL recognises no borders and has to be taken on wherever it roots. So we should not leave it to French, Australian, or American aircraft to keep our own streets safe.

Nor should anybody, including Russia, prop up the tyrant, rather than tackle the terror. Syria deserves to be free of both ISIL and Assad.

Nor should we forget that, in Europe, Russia is changing international borders by force, something not seen since the end of World War Two.

Seven thousand people have died as Ukraine fights for its freedom. 

In the face of this aggression we have to show that our collective resolve is stronger than ever.

While the peoples of eastern Europe are looking to us to protect their freedom, hard won from communism, Labour has elected a leader who would abandon them.

We will strengthen NATO, not question it.

In Africa, we are committing more troops to help keep the peace, and to address poor governance that spawns terrorism and drives migration – tackling the causes of those desperate scenes in the Mediterranean where our Royal Navy is saving thousands of lives.

Second, we will make sure that we are ready for any future threats.

This year’s Strategic Defence and Security Review is weighing the threats we will face in the coming decade and beyond.

It will decide the capabilities we need to respond. 

When it reports by the end of the year, it will set out our aim:

…To ensure that our Armed Forces and security services can keep this country safe at home and our interests secure abroad

…To stand up for our values, confronting aggression where we find it

…and helping our friends and allies across the world.

Third, we are investing £160 billion so that our world class Armed Forces have the world class equipment they need. 

Early in 2017 the first of our new aircraft carriers – the most powerful ships the Royal Navy has ever had - will arrive in Portsmouth…and be welcomed by both Portsmouth’s Conservative MPs.

The biggest investment decision this Parliament will have to take is to replace the ballistic missile submarines that provide our nuclear deterrent.

               

For 46 years our deterrent has been deployed every hour of every day. Anyone thinking of ending this unbroken patrol has to be absolutely certain that no nuclear threats will emerge in the 2030s, 2040s and 2050s.

I’m not prepared to take that gamble so we will ask MPs of all parties to put national security first and support building four new ballistic missile submarines.

And we won’t let any coalition of left-wing Labour MPs and the SNP stop us.

Conference, the first duty of government is to keep our country safe.

When the world is a more dangerous place…

Be proud of a Conservative government led by a Prime Minister and Chancellor who have chosen to increase defence spending.

Be proud that Britain is one of only four countries building aircraft carriers, and is clearing its deficit at the same time.

Be proud that Conservatives will keep our commitment to NATO, will stand up for our values, and will play our part in tackling aggression, terrorism and instability. 

But be prouder still of our Armed Forces who are doing whatever it takes to keep Britain safe. 

75 years ago, Churchill paid tribute to “the Few”.  Today we remember the two hundred thousand, serving so bravely and who never let us down.

This party, this government, won’t let them down.”