Defence cuts: more compulsory redundancies to come

Thousands more armed forces personnel will be forced to leave service as officials prepare for second wave of cuts The number of compulsory redundancies within the armed forces is likely to soar during the next round of cuts, which will require thousands more people to leave service, defence officials have admitted. As the defence secretary, Liam Fox, sought to justify the first round of job losses, his department was bracing itself for the second wave and the likelihood that most people who wanted to volunteer for redundancy might have done so by now. “By the time we get to rounds three or four, it’s hard to imagine there will be any volunteers left,” said one Whitehall source. Another official added: “It’s hard to tell how things will look, but this is not likely to get any easier.” With Labour and some analysts again questioning the wisdom of the speed and scale of the redundancy programme, Fox and the armed forces minister, Nick Harvey, insisted it was the only way to bring the chaotic budget at the Ministry of Defence under control, and that the government had had no room to manoeuvre. “The responsibility for these redundancies lies with the incompetence of the last Labour government who left the nation’s finances broken and a £38bn black hole in the defence budget,” said Fox. “The tough measures we have taken will bring the budget largely into balance for the first time in a generation. “Of course redundancies are always sad news, but we will continue to have strong and capable forces and we appreciate the hard work of our brave armed forces.” Harvey admitted that the armed forces would not be able to conduct the breadth of military operations in the future, but said the current stretch would ease as the efforts in Libya and Afghanistan wound down. “Over the next three years, the pace of operations should decline,” he said. Sir Menzies Campbell, a member of the Commons foreign affairs committee, said this was the only way the armed forces could cope and that the UK would have to tailor its military ambitions. “The first lesson for the calculation of defence expenditure is to keep obligations and resources in balance,” he said. “It’s just as well we are out of Iraq, Libya is approaching a military conclusion, and that we have a fixed date for withdrawal of combat troops from Afghanistan. Otherwise we could be seriously embarrassed.” Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, said he did not believe the MoD had a “coherent plan”. The RAF is making 930 personnel redundant in the first tranche announced on Thursday – 490 are compulsory job losses. The army has notified 920 people that they have been selected for redundancy, of which 260 are compulsory. The Gurkhas were hit hardest, with 140 of them being told that they were being made redundant against their wishes. It is hoped that some of them will be able to apply for posts within other infantry regiments, though with the army being cut by a fifth by 2020, there are unlikely to be too many openings. Supporters of the Gurkhas reacted with fury and dismay to the news, and said they feared the brigade would be targeted again when the second tranche of redundancies gets under way in the new year. “I just hope the Gurkhas that have been made redundant today get the same support and welfare that other British soldiers are entitled to,” said Tikendra Dewan, of the British Gurkha Welfare Society. “That has not always been the case.” An MoD spokesman said: “No decision has yet been taken on when the second tranche of redundancies will begin, but it will be in early 2012. “There will be up to four tranches to reach the redundancies we need by 2014/15.” Ministry of Defence Military Defence policy Liam Fox Gurkhas Public sector cuts Nick Hopkins guardian.co.uk

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