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General Peter Wall has told commanding officers that troop reductions will be imposed sooner than ministers have admitted The head of the army has warned that deep cuts will be imposed sooner than ministers have admitted and will mean the end of regiments and battalions, including some that were recently deployed in Afghanistan. General Peter Wall’s warnings in a letter to all commanding officers, appears to contradict assurances made to MPs last month by the defence secretary, Liam Fox. It also appears to undermine the government’s repeated claims that last October’s strategic defence and security review (SDSR) remains valid. Wall says he regrets the “sobering” impact the extra cuts this will have on soldiers and their families, and the “uncertainties” they will cause. He adds that there are “significant changes to the original SDSR provision for the army, including significant cuts”. Wall writes: “Regular army manpower will be cut more steeply, with an additional reduction of 5,000 over and above the 7,000 already in progress as a result of the SDSR. This takes the army to about 90,000 by 2015. The additional manpower cuts are now being scoped but will inevitably require a further redundancy programme.” He continues: “Although the detailed planning is not yet complete we must assume that these reductions will require the further removal of formed battalions and regiments from the force structure, including the combat arm.” Fox told the Commons on 27 June: “When it comes to plans for the army, we have no plans to reduce its size in this parliament.” It is assumed he meant no further cuts than those already announced in the SDSR. The review said the army numbers would be reduced by about 7,000 to 95,000 by 2015. Wall now warns that the cuts will be deeper, leaving an army of 90,000 by 2015. The total will be further reduced to at least 84,000, perhaps to 82,000, by the year 2020, depending on how many more reservists are recruited by then. Either way, the British army will have fewer soldiers than at any time during the past 100 years. The Guardian reported last week that a number of infantry battalions will be disbanded as a result of the cuts. The head of the army’s letter was first reported in the Daily Telegraph. An Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “No one who is preparing for, or is deployed on operations, will be made redundant unless they volunteer. Only those who have returned from operations and have taken all their leave will be considered.” He added: “The defence secretary has agreed with [chief of the general staff] that we will move gradually towards the new army structure so operations are not adversely affected by additional reductions in regular army numbers, which will be made as we draw down our commitments in Afghanistan in 2014/15.” Military Defence policy Liam Fox Conservative and Liberal Democrat cabinet Richard Norton-Taylor guardian.co.uk