Gordon Brown steps in to reverse £20m cut in Territorial Army cash

Published on Tuesday 27 October 2009 23:28

PRIME Minister Gordon Brown last night personally intervened to reverse a planned £20 million cut to the Territorial Army training budget.

Under the move the TA had faced the cancellation of all routine training for the rest of the financial year.

Former defence secretary John Reid – one of a series of Labour MPs who challenged the cuts in parliament on Monday – welcomed the decision.

But opposition politicians flagged up the decision as a "climbdown" by Mr Brown.

Armed Forces Minister Bill Rammell had staged a partial climbdown, announcing a "small adjustment" of 2.5 million to allow TA soldiers to attend one drill night a month.

However, the concession failed to satisfy critics on all sides of the House, with a number of prominent figures on the Labour benches calling for a full re-think of the cuts plan.

Mr Reid confirmed that, after a series of conversations with Labour MPs, Mr Brown had agreed that the full budget should be reinstated.

Mr Reid said: "I very much welcome the fact that the Prime Minister has personally intervened to make sure that the Territorial Army training budget is retained.

"While there was never a threat to the training of those who were to be deployed in Afghanistan or other active posting, this reaffirmation of training for the whole of the Territorial Army will come as a great reassurance to the TA."

"Gordon Brown and (Defence Secretary] Bob Ainsworth have always said that those who are taking the risks and making sacrifices would receive the back-up that they needed."

Lindsay Hoyle, another Labour critic of the cuts, said that he had directly asked Mr Brown to intervene in the dispute.

"This will be welcomed across the whole of the UK and ensure that not only the TA centres remain operational, but also that the TA training and pay continues."

Shadow defence minister Gerald Howarth said the move was a victory for the Tories.

"David Cameron raised this issue at Prime Minister's Questions two weeks ago and we welcome this climbdown from Gordon Brown."

Liberal Democrat defence spokesman Nick Harvey said: "It was a shocking error of judgment for the government to have contemplated this cut in the first place.