The Poor Bloody Infantry Faces More Friendly Fire?

In opposition Liam Fox boasted he could cut the Ministry of Defence by 25% without there being any impact on “frontline” troops. The confirmation that there will be 17,000 fewer men and women in uniform by this parliament’s end mocks that promise. To govern is to choose, for sure, but the scale of these cuts leads one to wonder, again, what kind of capability will be left once they are completed.

For now, the Gurkhas excepted, the infantry has been spared. But there are already indications that its luck, if you can call it that after all the reorganisations of recent years, will run out when the next “tranche” of cuts is announced. Today’s editions of the Scotsman and the Herald each publish warnings that entire infantry battalions are at risk. According to Clive Fairweather:

“It looks like six battalions across the whole army are under threat and one or two of those will come from the Royal Regiment for Scotland.