Uncertainty over Marine bases ‘is harming morale’

AN MP has said morale in the Royal Marines is suffering due to long-term uncertainty about where personnel will be based.

The Ministry of Defence has yet to clarify the future of bases in Somerset and Plymouth.

Plymouth Sutton MP Luke Pollard said the uncertainty was damaging morale.

He said: “Two years ago, 62 per cent of Royal Marines officers rated morale in the service as high. Now, that figure is just 23 per cent.”

The MoD’s Better Defence Estate review in 2016 said 24 Engineer Regiment Royal Engineers and Commando Logistics Regiment members from Chivenor Airfield, Devon, and 40 Commando Royal Marines from Norton Manor Camp in Somerset would be consolidated in a new ‘superbase’.

Several military bases in Plymouth, including the historic Marines base at Stonehouse and the Army’s Royal Citadel, are also likely to see changes.

North Devon MP Peter HeatonJones called for the decision to close RMB Chivenor to be reversed. But a defence minister said it would continue to have a role to play in the future of Britain’s defence.

Tobias Ellwood, responding in a Parliamentary debate, said the MoD owned three per cent of land in the UK and it was “simply not possible” to retain that land.

“We have been obliged to conduct a wide-ranging study into MoD land with a view to transforming our estate into one that better supports the future needs of our Armed Forces. We will be investing over £4 billion over the next ten years to create smaller, more modern, and capabilityfocused bases and garrisons.”

But he assured MPs: “We recognise the benefits of retaining a Royal Marine presence at Chivenor. Chivenor will continue to have a role to play.”

Mr Heaton-Jones said the uncertainty was causing damage across the region, adding: “What we need is a final decision, and that final decision should be that RMB Chivenor is saved.

“It is time to reverse the closure decision and to end the uncertainty and to save RMB Chivenor.”

Mr Heaton-Jones said the base had been part of the military landscape of north Devon since May 1940, with a proud history, playing a vital role in the Second World War.

Speaking in a later debate, Mr Pollard said it was time to put an end to the uncertainty over where the Royal Marines would be based in the future. The morale of the Royal Marines was suffering, in part due to the uncertainty about their future basing, he added.