Senior MPs will visit RAF Lossiemouth and Kinloss Barracks in Moray later this month amid continuing uncertainty about the future of the Army base.
The Ministry of Defence has not ruled out or in the possibility of the Kinloss military base shutting its doors as part of a spending review – prompting speculation about its future.
Now Westminster’s Scottish Affairs Committee will travel to the region to tour the bases to learn more about work being done by the forces.
Meanwhile, Moray MSP Richard Lochhead has condemned the UK Government for failing to rule out the possibility of Kinloss Barracks being closed.
Why are MPs visiting Kinloss Barracks and RAF Lossiemouth?
The Scottish Affairs Committee, which is chaired by the SNP’s Pete Wishart, opened a “defence in Scotland” inquiry in July to examine the military estate and personnel numbers.
As part of the work, the cross-party group is exploring the impact of base closures but also the benefits brought by new infrastructure investments.
RAF Lossiemouth is currently undergoing a £400million transformation at the same time as neighbouring Kinloss Barracks is reportedly under threat.
Moray MP Douglas Ross, who is a committee member, urged the MPs to visit both RAF Lossiemouth and Kinloss Barracks due to the significant armed forces presence in the region.
Mr Ross said: “Given the significant investment by the UK Government at Lossiemouth and the crucial role the Army play locally, nationally, and across the world, I’m certain fellow members of the committee will get an excellent understanding from personnel about what it’s like being based in Scotland and the work our UK armed forces do from communities such as Moray.”
Why is the future of Kinloss Barracks in doubt?
The MoD is reportedly considering closing Kinloss Barracks as part of a spending review – which has been repeatedly dismissed as “speculation” by some.
However, the Army has repeatedly stressed no final decision about the future of any base has been taken, prompting concerns about the future of Kinloss.
This MoD response to @RichardLochhead on the future of Kinloss Barracks fails to give clear assurances that the base is not being considered for closure.
UK Ministers had the chance to rule out the threat of closure but have failed to do so. pic.twitter.com/dj0UbWlfup
— Moray MSP (@MorayMSP) November 17, 2021
It is the latest time the base has been threatened with closure after a decision was taken to scrap the RAF’s Nimrod fleet with the Army moving in to fill the resulting gap.
Moray Economic Partnership held an emergency meeting last month to discuss the issue – vowing to help “safeguard and develop” the military presence in the area.
Mr Lochhead wrote to the MoD to request clarity on the situation facing Kinloss Barracks but in a response was only told “no final decision have yet been made”.
The Moray MSP said: “The letter suggests that Kinloss is in the mix because the UK minister says that no decisions have been made yet, whereas he could have easily excluded Kinloss from the decision process but he chose not to.
“Promises have been made to our communities by previous Conservative government’s that army personnel would be based at Kinloss after they scrapped the Nimrods, so there should be no questions over the barrack’s future and the minister should have be giving people in Moray that assurance.”