TA told: Go to Afghanistan but spend £17.5m less on training

Published on Monday 26 October 2009 21:09

THE Territorial Army faces a drop of £17.5 million in its training budget as part of a round of deeper cuts imposed on the cash-strapped military.

Ministers announced that volunteers would only be funded for one training session per month from now until the end of the year, because of the budget crisis facing the Ministry of Defence.

The government had originally planned to announce a 20 million cut to the Territorial Army budget, but Prime Minister Gordon Brown ordered ministers to pull back, fearing a repeat of the public furore surrounding the lack of rights for Gurkhas.

Last night, one former TA squadron commander told The Scotsman that the cuts were indicative of the "wider massacre of spending cuts facing the whole armed forces".

Mark Cann, who is now chief executive of the British Forces Foundation charity, said defence sources had told him they had been banned from travelling for the last month.

"All travel has been stopped. From generals down, members of the armed forces have been forced to cancel meetings.

"They can't claim for train tickets, they can't hire cars ... They are being massacred in terms of budget cuts across the board."

Mr Cann, a former major who served for 12 years, said the cuts to the TA would act as a deterrent to new recruits.

"It is sending a message from the politicians at the top that 'we don't value you'."

Armed forces minister Bill Rammell yesterday made the announcement in the Commons.

He described the cut as a "small adjustment" that would still enable volunteers to attend one drill a month.

But MPs reacted with fury, calling on him to reverse the entire budget cut.

The reduction is part of a cost-cutting plan intended to save 54 million from the overall army budget.

Liam Fox denounced the proposals as a "shambles" and warned that they could lead to a further decline in TA numbers.

"For many the TA is a habit – break the habit, break the TA," he said.

Liberal Democrat defence spokesman Nick Harvey said that the damage caused by the cuts was out of proportion to the savings that would be achieved.

"The decision here will surely do far more damage to the morale and the preparedness of the TA in years to come than the tiny amount that they are going to penny-pinch from it," he said.

Labour MPs, led by former defence secretary John Reid, were also angry about the cuts.

Mr Reid said: "If prioritisation is to be carried out, and Afghanistan is a conflict where we have to win the people, then our greatest resource is people."

An MoD spokeswoman said there was no official "travel ban" but added that "all personnel have been asked to consider their travel requirements to ensure they fit with the organisation's wider goals".