Tory MP rues 'laughable' Army size as military numbers fall again
3 min read
A Conservative MP has described the current size of the Army as “laughable” as new figures revealed another fall in the number of military personnel.
There were 138,130 full-time, fully-trained members of the Navy, RAF and Army on 1 June this year - 1,860 lower than 12 months earlier.
The number of Army personnel who have completed their “phase 2” training stands at 78,010, down from 79,750 last April.
The Government’s Strategic Defence and Security Review set a target for 82,000 people in the Army.
But even that target was derided by Conservative MP and former soldier Colonel Bob Stewart.
Speaking in a Westminster Hall debate yesterday, before the latest statistics were published, he said: “Clearly our armed forces will be much smaller than in the past, which is disgraceful... We do not have enough troops; 82,000 is laughable.”
He said the numerical strength of the armed forces was at its lowest since the 17th century, and called for the Government to exceed the Nato target to spend at least 2% of national income on defence.
“I want us to sort out what we need to spend on defence,” he said.
Another Conservative MP, Leo Docherty, suggested the Government should aim to put at least “somewhere nearer 3%” of the national output into defence.
Their concerns were underlined by today’s release by the Ministry of Defence of the latest personnel statistics.
Shadow Defence Secretary Nia Griffith called on ministers to give soldiers a pay rise beyond the 1% public sector cap to boost retention rates.
“It is deeply concerning that the size of the Army has fallen yet again on this Government’s watch,” she said.
“Since Michael Fallon became Defence Secretary in 2014, the number of fully trained soldiers has fallen by over 7,000. That trend is simply not sustainable and it has very real consequences for the UK’s defence capabilities.
“We know that satisfaction with pay and service life are some of the biggest reasons why servicemen and women are leaving the Armed Forces in their droves.
“If the Government was serious about tackling this crisis in recruitment and retention, they would agree to lift the public sector pay cap to give our Armed Forces the pay that they deserve.”
Last year the MoD changed the definition of “trained strength” to include army personnel who had completed their “Phase 1” core training but not yet their “Phase 2” trade training.
The figures for Phase 1 troops also showed a decrease, from 83,770 last October to 82,210 on 1 June.
In response to the calls from her Conservative colleagues yesterday, Defence Minister Harriett Baldwin said the Government’s plan would “ensure that the armed forces remain able both to conduct the full range of operations that they might be called upon to undertake and to succeed against ever more sophisticated and capable adversaries”.
She added: “In every aspect of what makes our armed forces among the very best in the world—whether that is the equipment they operate, the training they undertake or the men and women who serve in the Navy, Army and Air Force—the Government are working and investing for the future; a future in which Britain has the right armed forces to ensure the safety and security of our people.”
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