ROBERTSON MORALE WARNING OVER FORCES CUTS

ROBERTSON MORALE WARNING OVER FORCES CUTS

Questioning the Scotland Secretary today (Wednesday) SNP Westminster leader and Defence spokesperson Angus Robertson warned the UK Government over forces morale after a report by the Royal United Services Institute said that UK military personnel numbers are set to be cut by 20% by 2016.

The Royal United Services Institute said the number of trained military personnel could fall from 175,000 to little more than 140,000 by 2016.

Mr Robertson said:

“This forecast is deeply alarming and comes at a time when our forces already feel overstretched and under resourced. Cuts on this scale would seriously diminish operational capabilities.

“The UK government is already responsible for a £4.3 billion defence underspend in Scotland between 2002 and 2007, and 9,500 defence jobs have been lost in Scotland since Labour came to power.

“Downing Street keeps making the wrong choices on cuts – whether it’s cutting vital manpower, aircraft and bases while blowing billions on a new generation of Trident nuclear weapons. These are the wrong choices and underline just how out of touch Labour is.”