Army cuts scandal exposed
A RECRUITMENT crisis and stealth cuts have reduced Army numbers to their lowest level since the Napoleonic Wars.
The intake of full-time soldiers fell by 5.69 per cent in 2016-17, meaning 650 fewer servicemen and women enlisted than 12 months earlier.
Stats were even worse for reservists, with 1680 fewer recruits year on year. That meant just 17,920 full and part-timers signed up.
Labour MP Stephen Doughty, who uncovered the figures, said: “They expose the stealth cuts.
“While our Army takes part in increasingly diverse operations, ministers have been spreading the butter too thinly.”
An Army spokesman said: “Recruitment levels are good and the Army has enough people.”