Royal Navy: MoD minister defends cutting old ships including HMS Albion branding opposition as "ridiculous"

Lord Vernon Coaker, Labour peer in the House of Lords and minister of state for the Ministry of Defence (MoD), addressed the move in a recent parliamentary debate. Defence secretary John Healey announced in the House of Commons on November 20 that a number of capabilities would be shelved in a bid to save £500m.

This includes the Type 23 Duke-class vessel HMS Northumberland - which the Labour MP described as “a frigate with structural damage” which made her uneconomical to repair - two Albion-class landing platforms HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark, 46 watchkeeper Mk1 drones, 14 Chinook helicopters, 17 Puma helicopters and two Wave-class tankers - RFA Wave Knight and RFA Wave Ruler.

The defence secretary previously said the landing platforms were “retired” by previous ministers but were "superficially kept on the books” at a cost of £9m a year, with the Wave-class tankers not being at sea for years. A major row has brewed between Labour and the Conservatives over the decision and what this means for the country’s security going forward.

Lord Coaker said the government is committed to modernising the armed forces to meet the challenges of the future. Rumours of conflicted priorities between the Treasury and the MoD have ben mooted in the national press. “We all want the best for our country and for our Armed Forces, and here there is no division between us,” Lord Coaker said.

Responding to questions in the House of Lords by Baroness Annabel Goldie and Baroness Julie Smith of Newnham - Conservative and Liberal Democrat peers respectively - Lord Coaker said the decisions to cut older equipment was guided by high-ranking military officials.

He said: “All of this has been backed by all the chiefs in the Ministry of Defence. We are trying to accelerate the replacement of the Type 23 frigates with eight of the world’s most advanced, Type 26 anti-submarine ships. If we do not support such decommissioning, we will have equipment that is 50, 60 or even 80 years old. That is ridiculous. You have to move on and take difficult decisions.”

The minister added that the Watchkeeper drones and Puma helicopters will be replaced by modern alternatives better suited to fighting future conflicts. He said HMS Bulwark has not being on the water since 2017.

The minister added: “The defence equipment plan before us seeks to decommission equipment that we believe is out of date. New equipment can be better placed to meet the threats we face: it is the wars of the future we need to fight, not the wars of the past.”