The Daily Telegraph

Former Army chief: English battalions will be hit hardest

Lord Dannatt warns that Scottish regiments will be left alone because of need to appease Sturgeon’s SNP

- By Danielle Sheridan Defence correspond­ent

ENGLISH battalions are set to bear the brunt of cuts because “politics” means that the Government will not touch troops in Scotland, the former head of the Army has said.

General Lord Dannatt, the former Chief of the General Staff, has criticised the reduction in troops to take place over the next decade as part of the integrated defence review.

Plans being considered look to reduce the Army by nearly 10,000 troops, cutting the number of full-time posts from 82,000 to 72,500.

However, Lord Dannatt told The Daily Telegraph it was inevitable that to achieve that reduced figure, the Ministry of Defence is “going to have to get rid of four English battalions”, despite the “low” operationa­l capability of Scottish battalions.

“The politics overrides the logic,” he said. “For the last two defence reviews, Scottish battalions should have been disbanded, but politicall­y that’s not acceptable.”

He added that with “Ms Sturgeon rampant north of the border and the Union under threat” there was no chance that Westminste­r would “touch Scottish battalions”.

“At the very least, one Scottish battalion should go to show equity across the country,” he said. “Don’t take four English battalions and no Scots battalions when everyone knows the Scots battalions are undermanne­d.”

Boris Johnson, who since becoming Prime Minister has taken the title of Minister for the Union, is facing escalating problems in keeping the UK together, with Ms Sturgeon, Scotland’s First Minister, expected to increase her call for a second independen­ce referendum after May’s Holyrood elections.

Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary – a former Scots Guards captain and former member of the Scottish parliament – will publish the integrated review later this month.

Last week, The Telegraph disclosed that senior defence sources close to the review had warned that battalions within the Yorkshire Regiment could be axed, while other battalions that could be under threat include those from the Rifles, Mercians and Royal Anglians.

Lord Dannatt added that there will be a “political fuss” if only English battalions are cut. “The emotive thing about cutting infantry battalions is that they are looking to all parts of the country as the infantry battalions are geographic­ally linked,” he said. “The solution would be to have an army of 75,000 instead and therefore not cut those English battalions.”

Robert Clark, a defence fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, said it had long been considered that the Royal Regiment of Scotland “are immune from the imminent defence cuts due to purely political reasons”.

He said: “Despite being amongst the most undermanne­d infantry units in the British Army, the Government is willing to reduce better-manned English battalions in order to appease the SNP. The only outcome of this policy will be to have a noticeably reduced operationa­l capability for the British Army at a time of ever increasing global commitment­s.”

An MOD spokesman said that as the UK’S Armed Forces respond to the changing threats, “they are being redesigned to confront future threats, not re-fight old wars”.

The spokesman added: “The Army will be fully staffed and equipped to confront those threats, including its armoured capabiliti­es.”

Brigadier John Clark, the Army’s head of strategy, added: “At this stage, no decisions have been taken on future Army structures.”

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