'I won't be the last general in Scotland'

Published on Saturday 20 March 2010 19:34

THE new head of the army north of the Border insists he will not be the last general in Scotland.

In a bid to dampen growing fears that the army's status in Scotland will be diminished in the forthcoming strategic defence review, Major General David Shaw said his role will remain and that troops will stay at Edinburgh Castle.

As the general officer in command of the army's 2nd Division, based in Edinburgh, but with control of Scotland, Northern Ireland and the north of England, Maj Gen Shaw insisted "Am I the last general? No."

He replaced Maj Gen Andrew Mackay, who quit his post in September after just five months amid reports that he was unhappy with the government's handling of the war in Afghanistan and with reports that the 2nd Division would be reduced in size in the strategic defence review, with the result that the most senior figure in Scotland would be a brigadier.

However, in his first interview since taking command in October, Shaw told Scotland on Sunday his predecessor left for "private reasons".

He added: "I know one or two people commented, on his behalf allegedly, but it wasn't so. That is history, that is his business. Am I the last general? No. I have received absolutely no orders. I am here to stay.

"I can seriously say that I am commanding this division and delivering what my predecessors delivered and refining all the time in the face of operations and I have got nothing that says 2nd Division is going."

However, he hinted that cuts could be a possibility: "I'm not here to protect what we have forever, because that is not accepting other pressures including economic and so on, but I am here to make sure that the soldiers get the best deal they can."

There were also reports that Edinburgh Castle's owner, Historic Scotland, wanted to remove the garrison – the official HQ of the Royal Regiment of Scotland – ending hundreds of years of military association.

Shaw, who has also assumed the ceremonial role of governor of Edinburgh Castle, was anxious to counter the reports. He said: "We have very amicable relations with them (Historic Scotland] and we should work closely to make best use of what we do in the castle and to bring the army to the public's attention."

He also said it was now the most dangerous time to join the force in 40 years. New recruits faced "a more dangerous environment than any we have faced" in Afghanistan, he said.

Yet despite the prospect of being sent to a conflict that has already claimed the lives of 275 British soldiers and where the rates of wounded has risen by 300 per cent in the past three years, the number of Scottish recruits has risen by 37 per cent in the previous year. In 2009-10, 1,138 recruits joined the army, up from 831 the previous year.

Shaw said: "It is a more dangerous environment than any we have faced in my time – I started just before the Falklands war and that was a similar sort of war. Whilst Northern Ireland and the Balkans had been dangerous in some respects, they do not compare with what our soldiers are facing now. What they are facing now is as severe as it has ever been."

Yet he insisted that the army was still "a good business to be in and a good one to join".

Shaw currently commands the largest regional forces division in the UK from his base at Craigiehall barracks, with 25,000 troops in his area.

The 2nd Division's annual budget for training and support is 85 million, with a further 30m for infrastructure.

Shaw praised Scottish society for rebuilding the covenant between the army and the public and supporting troops in their military operations.

"I believe the people in Scotland really understand what their soldiers are going there for and back them wholeheartedly. I take my hat off to them and am very grateful for that – it is a message and the soldiers really appreciate that."

The prospect of a referendum on independence has not prompted the major general or his bosses at the MoD to examine the consequences for his forces in the event of a split.

Asked if he had looked at the political consequences of independence, he said: "No I have not."

He added: "Perhaps it is something I should do down the line, but I have to be honest: we serve the Crown and are happy doing that, and people are also very happy being Scottish. We have the Scottish Regiment; that reflects their Scottishness, and yet (they] serve the Crown. The question you ask is a hugely political one and not for a general to answer."

However, he did praise the SNP administration and their support for veterans.

"What they are doing is hugely supportive, and I feel we can move faster in Scotland because they are closer to the levers of power than they might be elsewhere," he said. "What I am going to do is take the best bits of what I am seeing in Scotland to the government offices in the north of England. I cannot do anything else but praise them on those areas."