31 Aug Grant Shapps faces ‘a very steep learning curve’ as new Defence Secretary says Mark Francois
GRANT Shapps faces “a very steep learning curve” as the new Defence Secretary, according to former armed forces minister Mark Francois MP.
Mr Francois, a member of the House of Commons defence committee, told GB News: “Ben Wallace is going to be an incredibly tough act to follow. And I think, to put it mildly, because it’s such a complex department, this is going to be a very steep learning curve for Grant Shapps.
“He’s got a number of really tough issues to deal with, firstly is taking over in the middle of the war in Ukraine, in which we’re very heavily involved in, supporting Ukrainians.
“Secondly, the system of defence procurement of buying equipment for the armed forces is broken.”
In a discussion with Andrew Pierce and Bev Turner, he continued: “Thirdly, partly because of the second problem, we can’t field a war-fighting division if asked. That is a key NATO commitment and we can’t keep our commitments to NATO. What’s he going to do about that?
“And fourth, there’s this burning issue about service families’ accommodation – mould, leaks. We’ve now got an inquiry into that. What’s he going to do about that? Because the knock on of that is lots of Armed Forces personnel are leaving the armed forces for that and other reasons.
“Many people in the building wanted James [Heappey] to get the job. He hasn’t.”
He added: “Grant Shapps is a bright bloke, but he’s going to have to come up with the speed very, very quickly.”
