The army is expected to have fewer than 70,000 trained soldiers next year, the Defence Secretary has confirmed – a shocking new low for Britain’s ‘hollowed out’ Armed Forces.
The figure – set against a backdrop of conflict in Europe and the Middle East – represents a loss of 5,000 troops in two years and 10,000 in five years.
Armies across Europe are shrinking but it appears the UK is losing servicemen and women at a faster rate than its allies.
Defence Secretary John Healey said yesterday he was ‘really angry’ about the state defence was left in by the previous government. Speaking in the Commons, he cited ‘billion-pound black holes in defence plans, service morale at record lows and Army numbers set to fall below 70,000 next year’.
In recent years, the Army has shed soldiers at an unprecedented rate, and by default rather than design. In the aftermath of the Cold War, the gradual reduction in numbers was managed. When, in 2015, the target size of the Army was set at 82,000 this was expected to be relatively easy to maintain, through recruitment and retention.
The figure – set against a backdrop of conflict in Europe and the Middle East – represents a loss of 5,000 troops in two years and 10,000 in five years
Defence Secretary John Healey (left) said yesterday he was ‘really angry’ about the state defence was left in by the previous government
However, this target was never met and by January 2021 the strength of the Army was just 76,300 trained troops.
Two months later, the Ministry of Defence announced, to widespread dismay, that the Army would be scaled back to 72,500 by 2025 as a cost-saving measure.
Despite the requirement for fewer soldiers, the Army has repeatedly missed recruitment targets – while increasing numbers of trained troops cut short their military careers over issues such as low pay and poor housing.
In August this year, the new government announced a 6 per cent pay-rise for troops, their biggest salary hike for two decades.
The failure to recruit soldiers has been blamed on the MOD’s partnership with outsourcing company Capita.
Earlier this year, it emerged the Army lost a staggering 70 per cent of its potential recruits due to delays in the recruitment process. While eager candidates were also rejected over obscure and often irrelevant medical issues.
Today’s Army is the smallest since the Napoleonic era.
Last night, former head of the Army Lord Dannatt told the Mail: ‘This is very bad news for the Army and the nation. The government cannot do much about civil unemployment being low and the Army not being involved in operations, which make recruitment harder.
The failure to recruit soldiers has been blamed on the MOD’s partnership with outsourcing company Capita (stock photo)
Recruits undergo training at Commando Training Centre Royal Marines on December in Lympstone
‘But it can sharpen up the outsourced recruitment process, which has been a tale of excessive delays and unnecessarily harsh medical restrictions.’
Former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who while in office admitted the armed forces had been ‘hollowed out’ by recent governments, told the Mail the Army’s failure to retain soldiers was a major factor. He also said armed forces numbers were ‘in freefall across the West’.
Research by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) suggested while Germany lost 2.92 per cent of its troops from 2013 to 2023, and France and Italy 8.26 and 8.58 per cent respectively, the UK lost 14.63 per cent of its personnel over the same period.
The continent-wide issues have forced defence chiefs across Europe and the UK to consider various models of conscription.
Only countries such as Poland and the Baltic States have seen surges in applicants – due to the direct threat Russia poses to these countries. Polish troops have also received pay rises of up to 20 per cent.
Last night, UK defence sources said the MOD was introducing recruitment-boosting measures such as pledging to make a conditional offer to applicants within 10 days and confirming a date to enter training within 30 days.
The MOD is also scrapping more than 100 minor medical criteria, such as hay fever, eczema and acne and launching ‘cyber track’, a focus on finding recruits with high-tech skills.
US generals have expressed fears that the UK’s armed forces are too small, as fewer people enlist and more training troops sign-off.
The MOD is also scrapping more than 100 minor medical criteria, such as hay fever, eczema and acne. (British special forces soldiers with weapon take part in military maneuver)
The Mail has called for the armed forces’ numbers to be boosted and for increases in military spending as part of its ‘Don’t Leave Britain Defenceless’ campaign. (Recruits undergo training at Commando Training Centre)
Last night, former Defence Minister Mark Francois said: ‘If Labour want to maintain Army numbers, one of the first things it should do is sack Capita, who have done more to damage recruitment than anything the Russians ever did.’
The Mail has called for the armed forces’ numbers to be boosted and for increases in military spending as part of its ‘Don’t Leave Britain Defenceless’ campaign.
The new government has insisted the pay rise for UK troops must come from existing budgets – while the MOD is also expected to meet Treasury-imposed cutbacks.
As the Mail has revealed, training budgets have been slashed. Hard-up defence officials also plotted to axe a £13 million grant to the Royal Chelsea Hospital – home of the Chelsea Pensioners. The plan was scrapped when the Mail found out.
Mr Healey refused yesterday to set out a timetable for defence spending to hit 2.5 per cent of GDP, which the Mail has recommended.
A source close to Mr Healey said: ‘We are working hard to stop this long-term Tory decline. Recruitment targets were missed every years in the last 14 years under the Conservatives. We are taking the first steps to fix the crisis we inherited.’