TORIES HAVE LEFT BRITAIN DEFENCELESS

Huge cuts in forces highlight ‘hypocrisy’ of attacking Labour

AFTER severe Conservative cuts to the military, the party’s criticism of Labour’s defence policies has been branded hypocritical. Britain’s armed forces have been devastated in six years of Tory control. Army numbers have fallen from 102,000 to just below 80,000, the fewest since the 1850s. The RAF and Royal Navy have also been slashed. Labour says the Conservatives’ “broken promises” on the military are a security risk to Britain. With one hand the Tories are drastically cutting defence and with the other they are prepared to make huge demands of it, which could cost lives. Labour MP Dan Jarvis, who is also a war veteran, said: “Tory MPS should not be trumpeting their record on defence. They should be embarrassed by the disgraceful damage their party has done to our armed forces. “All three services have been cut beyond recognition. “The Tories are not the party of national security. Through underfunding and overstretching they have, in fact, damaged it.” The former Army major, who served in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo and Northern Ireland, added: “Britain’s defences under a Tory leadership are almost unrecognisable compared to how they were left by the last Labour government. “Our Army has been seriously reduced, undermining our ability to react to a changing threat from state enemies and international terrorism. “Thousands of highly experienced war veterans who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan are leaving the forces. Many are leaving earlier than they would have done because they see no future under the Tory Party.” Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has been slammed as an opponent of the Trident nuclear deterrent. Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon called Mr Corbyn “gutless” on defence. But Labour has strongly signalled its continued support for Trident. A party official, who works in the defence industry, said: “It is unadulterated hypocrisy of the Tories to ridicule Labour defence policies. “Under Cameron, they slashed numbers and in 2012 made troops safeguard the Olympics in London – the hypocrisy is glaring. “And witness how little the Tories have done for those suffering physical and mental scars from Iraq and Afghanistan.” After the Tories slashed the regular infantry by more than 20,000, now the elite Royal Marines are being hit – with 200 personnel being cut from 42 Commando. And there are fears the entire Royal Marines Corps is under threat. Last year, as Britain faced growing danger from Islamic State and Russia, the Mirror revealed Tory cuts had led to a 5,000 shortfall in the forces. There were 141,260 military personnel, despite the official requirement being 147,000 – a figure already hugely reduced by the Tories. Our Army has been short of troops at various times in the past six years. Army bomb disposal expert Major Chris Hunter said: “The Tories have made drastic cuts to our military and our police which have had a palpable effect on our security, so to be blinkered by Labour’s weak defence policies and single them out for ‘attacking’ defence is a little unfair.” Army recruitment, which the Tories have contracted out to private firm Capita, has been called a disaster. But the company said: “We are committed to supporting the Mod’s plans for an Army of 82,000 by 2020.

THREATENED

“Total applications to join the Army have increased significantly in recent years and application performance remains strong thanks to improvements to the recruitment process.” RAF squadrons are also threatened under the Tories. And with many of our fighter jets in action against IS our defences at home are wide open. The Tory-led government in 2010 scrapped £4billion worth of British built BAE Nimrod MRA4 submarine-hunting aircraft, in a move branded by a defence chief as “perverse”. Then they asked Canada, the US and France for a loan of patrol aircraft after Russian subs penetrated waters off our Trident base at Faslane. Our defence source said: “When you look at the Tory record on defence it is hard to think they believed they might get away with it.”

The Tories have done disgraceful damage to our armed forces MP DAN JARVIS HITS OUT AFTER LABOUR IS SLATED

DEFENCE is a key example of the chasm between Conservative myth and reality.

The Tories pose as champions of our armed forces but actually impose dangerous cuts that Labour would tremble to authorise. Reducing the Army to its weakest level since the Crimean War is an act of military vandalism that strips Theresa May’s party of the right to criticise Labour or any other opponent’s defence spending plans. From scrapping maritime patrol craft to sinking Royal Navy vessels, Tory cuts erode fighting capability and morale. Labour’s manifesto will back new Trident submarines – so the Tories lie when they pretend otherwise. Most worrying of all is another round of cuts should May and her spin doctors con their way back into office with a thumping majority that allows them to do whatever takes their whim. May dodges debates because she is nervous about defending a poor Tory record – and that includes defending indefensible defence cuts.