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| Subject: The Scotsman: Hoon vows to push through army changes | |
Author: Bruce (Canada) | [ Next Thread |
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] Date Posted: 12:16:49 10/31/04 Sun In reply to: Bruce (Canada) 's message, "The Scotsman: At last, the Royal Family's anger over cuts is revealed" on 12:01:09 10/31/04 Sun Hoon vows to push through army changes JAMES KIRKUP, GETHIN CHAMBERLAIN AND JOY COPLEY GEOFF Hoon today rejects growing public anger in Scotland and vows he will push through plans to amalgamate the country’s historic regiments. Writing in The Scotsman, the Defence Secretary says he understands concerns about the plans and offers some limited sweeteners. But he insists he will press on. Since the news of the Black Watch’s perilous mission in Iraq broke, hundreds of ordinary people have sent letters and e-mailed messages of support for The Scotsman’s campaign against the Ministry of Defence plans. Leading figures from the worlds of sport, politics, business and the arts have also come out against the amalgamation of the Black Watch and the other five Scots infantry regiments into a single multi- battalion national regiment. To join the campaign, fill in the form on the opposite page and send it in, or log on to The Scotsman’s website at www.thescotsman.co.uk/regiments. The five other infantry regiments threatened are: the Royal Highland Fusiliers, the King’s Own Scottish Borderers, the Royal Scots, the Highlanders and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. Defence officials say the Royal Scots and the KOSB could be merged into a single unit and, in his article, Mr Hoon confirms that one of the six must cease to exist as an independent fighting unit. "As part of a move to a new army structure, we plan to reduce infantry battalions in Scotland from six to five," Mr Hoon writes, arguing that his plans will lead to a more modern, flexible army. Still, Mr Hoon is ready to make some concessions to growing public anger over the proposed amalgamations. Among the sweeteners on offer is the prospect of all of Scotland’s remaining infantry units being permanently based in Scotland. Such a move would require major construction work to provide all the troops with home barracks, but senior defence officials said they were willing to consider that as a goodwill gesture towards Scotland. Stung by the outpouring of anger over the amalgamation plan, defence sources said ministers and officials were seeking a way of preserving some aspects of all six regiments’ identities - cap badges, tartans and other trappings - within the five-battalion structure. "I want the army to retain as far as possible regimental traditions and local identities within the new, larger organisations," Mr Hoon writes, without going into detail. The Army Board yesterday met to discuss how best to implement the government’s decision to cut the number of UK infantry regiments from 30 to 26. The final decision over the restructuring rests with ministers and is expected before Christmas. This week, Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, and Alistair Darling, the Scottish Secretary, hinted at concessions over preserving regimental traditions, apparently hoping to portray the final decision as a form of compromise. But neither their warm words nor Mr Hoon’s assurances seem likely to assuage public anger. Campaigners say they will settle for nothing less than a guarantee that the Scots units will continue to exist as full regiments. In a sign that the political controversy over the government’s defence plans is growing, Mr Blair was assailed over the issue in the House of Commons yesterday. Michael Howard, the Conservative leader, condemned the government’s plans, telling Mr Blair: "In a dangerous world we need stronger forces." Clearly under pressure, Mr Blair repeated an assurance that there would be no reductions in the size of the British Army. "Overall, the numbers of people in our armed forces is not going to be reduced." he said. But the MoD last night admitted that statement was incorrect. According to the chief of the general staff, General Sir Mike Jackson, the cuts mean that the army will be reduced in size by a total of 6,000 posts. It is already significantly under-strength after a recruitment freeze - at only about 103,500 of the establishment strength of 108,000. The cuts will reduce troop numbers to 102,000, an actual drop of 1,500 soldiers. An MoD spokesman later explained that Mr Blair was referring to the overall size of the army, and said that the Prime Minister was "technically correct" that the size of the army would remain the same in the immediate future. But he admitted that Mr Howard was correct to say that the intention was to reduce the number of troops to the target figure of 102,000. "Eventually the numbers will fall," the spokesman said. In a separate challenge to the government, it emerged last night that many of the Black Watch who are putting their lives at risk in Iraq may be unable to vote in the next general election. There has been a staggering 90 per cent fall in the number of Scottish service personnel registering to vote since a requirement to sign up annually was introduced in the Representation of the People Act 2000. In 1999 the number of armed forces voters registered for UK elections in Scotland was 18,686. Now, it is only 2,100. Andrew Tyrie, the Conservative MP who uncovered the figures, said they displayed the government’s "thoughtless and insensitive" attitude towards the armed forces. [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |
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