UK National Defence Association
The UK National Defence Association (UKNDA) is a pressure group campaigning in support of Britain's Armed Forces and calling for an increase in the UK Defence budget. It is politically independent and Tri-Service (Navy, Army, Air Force).
Formed in 2007, its Patrons include former Chiefs of the Defence Staff - Admiral The Lord Boyce, and General The Lord Guthrie. Its Founder-President was Winston S. Churchill (grandson of former Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill) and Vice-Presidents include Sir Richard Dearlove (former head of the Secret Intelligence Service), General Sir Michael Rose (Falklands and Bosnia), Major-General Patrick Cordingley (commander of the Desert Rats in the Gulf War), Colonel Tim Collins (commander of 1st Royal Irish Regt in the Iraq War), Colonel Bob Stewart,DSO, MP,(commander of United Nations forces in Bosnia) and Professor Richard Holmes.[1] The UKNDA Chief Executive is Andy Smith, its Secretary is Lieutenant Commander David Robinson RN. Its Public Relations Officer is Andy Smith. Board members include David Wedgwood, Cdr Graham Edmonds RN, Andy Smith and Col Peter Walton [2]
The UKNDA's 2008 policy paper, Overcoming the Defence Crisis, argues that the shrinking of the Defence budget from 5% of the UK's Gross Domestic Product in the 1980s to barely 2% in 2008 has left Britain's Armed Forces chronically under-funded and over-stretched. It calls for UK Defence policy to be "threat-driven, not budget-driven".[3]
