Defence Secretary Liam Fox has vowed to do everything he can to give RAF Lyneham a strong future after it closes as an air base.
Campaigners, including North Wiltshire MP James Gray, want the 1,300-acre site to become a garrison for some of the 20,000 troops now based in Germany.
Last night Dr Fox said the Ministry of Defence was seeing if it could provide a long-term future for the base that would put money into the local economy. A decision will be taken this summer around the time the last of the base’s ageing C130K Hercules aircraft retire and their new generation C130J replacements transfer to Brize Norton air base. RAF Lyneham is scheduled to close completely by the end of next year.
His comments will be welcomed by the campaigners who have expressed fears that military cutbacks and the cost of the ongoing campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan – and now Libya – could delay a decision.
Speaking at the annual dinner of GWE Business West in Bristol, Dr Fox said bringing troops back from Germany would boost the UK economy by £250m. “I would like to see that spent in the UK economy,” he said.
Around 750 civilians are employed at RAF Lyneham with an estimated 3,400 jobs dependent on the base.
Newspaper tycoon turned proprietor of the Wiltshire Golf and Country Club, Eddy Shah has plans to regenerate the base for commercial use if it is not used for military purposes. Mr Shah believes the base could support up to 3,000 private sector jobs.
In a wide-ranging speech to more than 200 business leaders at last night’s dinner, Dr Fox praised Chancellor George Obsorne’s Budget and the Government’s efforts to bring down the deficit before outlining how his Defence Spending Review would improve Britain’s military capability and equip its Armed Forces for the modern era while also benefitting the country’s small and medium-sized defence contractors. He said large defence firms would be held to account when they won contracts for military equipment to ensure they were completed on time and on budget.
With dozens of anti-war and anti-cuts protestors outside the dinner venue, Dr Fox also mounted a robust defence of UK military action in Libya and praised the Government for leading international action through the United Nations to implement a no-fly zone.
