The MOD is too top heavy. So are lots of other government departments.

Nick Clegg has visited the south as party of his whirlwind tour of Britain. See the story in The News here

He was, as always, honest and forthright and like his right hand man Vince Cable he has a habit of saying what we all know, but most politicians from other parties tend to completely miss.

The MOD is too top heavy, as a resident of Gosport for many years now I know all too well what he is saying. They have 2 admirals per warship, a ridiculous situation. We need to pare down this bureaucracy in all areas of government, we need better equipped and paid soldiers and less admirals. We need less managers and more nurses.

Another ridiculous situation that we are going to sort out is "the less you spend, the less you get" budget thinking, departments need to be incentivised for saving money, not penalised. The whole "we've got the money in the budget so we've got to spend it" attitude has to be changed.

Liberal Democrats plan to take a measured approach to cuts, making proper savings, savings that will allow us money to ensure that our frontline services are not just maintained but improved.

Accept no substitutes, it is only the Liberal Democrats that will deliver real fairness.