Geoff Hoon Geoff Hoon (right) at Pentagon briefing The Right Honourable Geoffrey William Hoon (born December 6 1953), the Member of Parliament for Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, was appointed British Secretary of State for Defence in October 1999. Born in Derby, Derbyshire, he was educated at Nottingham High School and Jesus College, Cambridge, reading law. Hoon has been in charge of the MoD during a period of massive deployments of British troops, including; 2000 - Operation Palliser - Sierra Leone 2001 - Exercise Saif Sareea II - Oman 2001 - Operation Veritas - Afghanistan 2003 - Operation Telic - Iraq Like many who have held the office before him Hoon has been forced to make some difficult defence procurement decisions. The MoD is committed to competitive procurement and operates perhaps the most open defence procurement process in the world. The adherence to this policy has caused significant friction between the MoD and its largest supplier, BAE Systems. Hoon, and the MoD as a whole have refused the company's arguments that it should be treated as a "national champion." BAE have been accused of demanding contracts, e.g the Type 45 destroyers. Recent events have demonstrated that the MoD will not entertain such practices, following the delays to the BAe Nimrod maritime patrol jet and Astute class submarine projects BAE was force to write off £750m against the contracts. Comment on Geoff Hoon's public persona has varied wildly from that of non-descript minister (the label Geoff Who? was applied by many national newspapers and an unflattering nickname is "Buff"), to a capable Defence Secretary and a "safe pair of hands" during and shortly after the 2003 Iraq War, to adjectives such as "slippery" and "dishonest" during the Dr. David Kelly Affair. He was widely expected to resign on the publication of the resulting Hutton Report. Whilst many were not suprised by the absence of any claim of wrong-doing on Tony Blair's behalf there was widespread disbelief that both Hoon and his permanent Secretary, Sir Kevin Tebbit, were also completely cleared of any impropriety. Hutton concluded that there was no "underhand" strategy in the naming of Kelly but that the Ministry of Defence failed to inform and advise him of the effects his name entering the public domain. In an interview in April, 2004 Geoff Hoon said that more could have been done to help David Kelly, who killed himself after being named as the source of Andrew Gilligan's controversial Today programme report. On July 21 2004 Hoon announced major changes to the British armed forces. This review, Future Capabilites, is an extension of the White Paper Delivering Security in a Changing World which was published in December 2003. Although wide ranging highlights include; Reduction in personnel from 108,500 to 102,000 Purchase of the four leased C-17s and one additional aircraft Confirmation of two major defence procurement projects, the Typhoon and Future Carrier (CVF) Withdrawal of three Type 42 destroyers and three Type 23 frigates Reduction in numbers of the Tornado F3 Withdrawal of entire SEPECAT Jaguar force by 2007 and closure of its base RAF Coltishall See also Guardian Politics Ask Aristotle - Geoff Hoon They Work For You - Geoff Hoon Most Popular Articles: Music    Musical Instruments    Guitar    Classical Music    History    Music Definition    Country Music    Rock Music    Pop Music    Hip Hop    Rap    DJ    Video Games    Casino Games    Poker    Blackjack    Casinos    Real Estate    Loan    Auction    eBay    Marketing    Search Engine Optimization    File Sharing    MP3    Music Industry    Kazaa    Internet    Supermodel    Fashion    Fashion Designers    Erotica    Modeling    Clothing    Boots    Shoes    Diamond Engagement Rings    Diamond    Rugs    Gospel Music    Affiliate    E-Commerce    Radio This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html You may copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. You must provide a link to http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html To view or edit this article at Wikipedia go to http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoff_Hoon