John Baron MP presses Secretary of State for Defence on Army reforms

MP says cuts to regular forces should be postponed until reservists are recruited

Today in the House of Commons, the Secretary of State for Defence, Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP, outlined further details of the Government’s planned Army reforms and published the White Paper, “Reserves in the Future Force 2020: Valuable and Valued”. These will entail the loss of 20,000 regular troops, including 2^nd Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, to be replaced by 30,000 reservists.

In the Chamber, John asked,

“The Government has not shown that its plans represent value for money, or indeed are in the country’s best interests. The fact the Government is having to throw in extra financial incentives, that an ex-regular reservist will be on a better scale of pay than a serving brigadier, and that TA numbers are falling – all cast doubt on plans even before we consider the loss of capability. Would it not be wise to put a stop to the loss of 20,000 regular troops, until we know for sure that these plans work?”

The Secretary of State replied that the reforms are in line with the threat level assessed by the Government’s 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review, and that fiscal challenges make necessary some significant changes to the Army.

John said afterwards,

“Cutting 20,000 regular troops before ensuring reservists are able to take up the strain is a high-risk move, and is potentially dangerous given many countries not necessarily friendly to the West are increasing their military budgets. The Government is creating a capability gap which begs many questions.”

Ends

Word Count: 272

Date: 3^rd July 2013