One in 14 axed from military has been rehired as reservist
SNP say figures show ministers have got priorities ‘badly wrong’
My grave fear is that eventually all that we will be left is a situation where our first line of defence is also our last
ONE in 14 Armed Forces staff sacked as part of swingeing defence cuts over the last four years has been rehired as a reservist, new figures show.
More than 700 service personnel given their marching orders since 2011 have joined the reserves, according to the Ministry of Defence. Many were brought on board within months of leaving regular service.
The figures come just weeks after it emerged that ministers have spent almost £900 million on redundancy payments as a result of their controversial austerity cuts.
The SNP, who obtained the latest statistics on reservists, said they showed that ministers were getting their priorities “badly wrong” on defence. But the MoD said it was heartening that so many Armed Forces personnel wanted to continue their service.
Conservative ministers are preparing to unveil further defence cuts within months as a result of a new review, launched after the party won May’s General Election. But critics claim that the military is still struggling to cope with the fallout from the last round of cutbacks.
Since 2011 a total of 10,800 service personnel have been made redundant, according to a parliamentary written answer. Of these 750 have been recruited as reservists, said defence minister Julian Brazier. In 2013-2014 alone almost one in 10 of those sacked went on to re-enter service with the reserves.
Brendan O’Hara, the SNP’s spokesman on defence, said: “These figures show once again that the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) contained precious little strategy and had very little to do with defence.
“The fact that almost one in 14 of those made redundant then rejoined the reserves shows once again the government has got it badly wrong on defence.”
He added that scrapping service personnel at same time as planning to spend £100m replacing the Trident nuclear weapons system on the Clyde was “ridiculous”.
“These figures show that conven- tional forces are being cut and cut and cut in order to pay for an unnecessary nuclear deterrent.
“My grave fear is that eventually all that we will be left is a situation where our first line of defence is also our last.”
An MoD spokesman said: “It is gratifying to see that so many regular personnel wish to continue to serve their country by bringing their valuable experience to the Reserve Forces.
“Reservists are an integral part of the agile and flexible force we need to counter the wide range of threats we face, and we continue to see a strengthening trend in reserve recruiting, with nearly 8,000 recruited in the past year.”
Reservists are paid a basic rate of £36 a day, with officers on a slightly higher rate. As a result of the last SDSR the MoD is currently moving to cut the size of the regular Army from 100,000 to just 82,000.
The cuts were made possible by plans to replace many regular staff with a newly beefed-up reserve force. Eventually the MoD wants to double the number of reservists, from 15,000 to 30,000. But defence ministers have admitted they are struggling to attract newcomers to the job.
The latest defence review is also thought to be considering a further sell-off of MoD properties, reviving fears over the future of some of its Scottish bases, including Leuchars in Fife, Kinloss in Moray and Fort George near Inverness.