SNP HIT OUT AT CADET CUTS

SNP HIT OUT AT CADET CUTS

MOVE 'SHORT SIGHTED IN THE EXTREME'

SNP Westminster Leader and Defence Spokesperson, Angus Robertson MP, has
hit out at the UK Government after a Sunday newspaper revealed savage cuts
to the Army Cadet Force training budget.

In a bid to slash £4m from the budget, the MoD will ask cadet instructors,
many of whom are retired army officers, to run training exercises for
free.

Mr Robertson will lodge an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons
protesting the move when parliament resumes on Monday.

Commenting, Mr Robertson said:

“The Army Cadets are our soldiers of tomorrow, and these cuts are a
massive blow to a force which has been giving teenagers a dose of military
discipline and leadership for nearly 150 years.

"These cuts are extremely short sighted and make an absolute mockery of
Gordon Brown’s stated aim of increasing cadet numbers.

“The folly of these cuts is compounded by the fact that £4 million is a
trifling amount set against the MoD’s £37 billion budget, and the £100
billion being spent on Trident renewal alone.

"It is just typical of this Labour government to axe cadets in the name of
cost cutting, while pushing ahead with plans to waste billions on a new
generation of nuclear weapons.

“Gordon Brown was forced to u-turn on the Gurkhas and the TA, and now we
must force a Downing Street retreat on Labour’s cadet cuts too.”