Future for UK troops to be outlined

DEFENCE Secretary Philip Hammond will outline plans to privatise parts of the armed forces when he gives a keynote speech in London today.

Speaking at the RUSI Land Warfare Conference, Mr Hammond will outline a vision in which British troops focus more on fighting, while support work such as logistics is carried out by private contractors, reservists or allies.

The speech will also confirm that regular forces are to be chopped by 20,000 to about 82,000, but Mr Hammond will insist that the regimental structure and famous names are safe.

This comes after speculation over the fate of the Black Watch and Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders battalions in the Royal Regiment of Scotland. It is understood that the Argylls, at present based in Canterbury, will be scrapped and the name either added to the Black Watch or transferred to a new Territorial Army battalion.

The speech is Mr Hammond’s first major one to defence experts since taking over from Liam Fox, who was forced to resign. He will look to address issues around the use of the army that came out of the Strategic Defence and Security Review, published in 2010, which many critics believe is now out of date.