THE human cost of putting extra nuclear warheads into Faslane and Coulport was revealed in the House of Commons yesterday.
UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace unveiled a defence command paper which will see cuts in personnel across the armed forces.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson last week revealed that the “cap” on UK nuclear warheads will rise from 180 to 260. Wallace yesterday confirmed that the Army would have its official strength cut from 82,000 to 72,500 – it has stuck at 76,000 for several years.
This was the Tory Government going back to not just Victorian values, but pre-Victorian values – the last time the British Army had so few soldiers was in 1824 during the reign of King George IV.
In a clear breach of Tory manifesto commitments from 2019, Wallace cut troop numbers and signalled a massive switch from human resources to high-tech equipment such as robot aircraft.
More than £60 million will be spent over the next four years for a programme to develop novel weapons, artificial intelligence, synthetic/digital systems and space-based capabilities.
The latter will be part of the British equivalent of America’s Space Force, to be called Space Command, which will be launched next month. The Ministry of Defence confirmed: “Space is fundamental to military operations, so the success of our forces greatly relies on control of that domain. We are investing £5 billion over the next decade in the Skynet 6 satellite communication programme. This will be complimented by £1.4bn allocated to the new Space Command, National Space Operations Centre, Space Academy and a UK-built reconnaissance satellite constellation.”
There will be four new Ranger battalions with 1 Royal Scots battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland being the “seed” for one of those new Ranger force.
Wallace said: “This defence command paper ensures our armed forces are threat-focused, modernised and financially sustainable. Our military will be ready to confront future challenges, seize new opportunities for Global Britain and lay the foundations of a more secure and prosperous Union.
“We will continue to work with allied partners to address future global security threats whilst also enhancing critical outputs in the battle space domains.
“Our people and their expertise are at the heart of what we do and further investments into training, welfare and support facilities will be reflective of this and ensure our armed forces are well equipped to face tomorrow’s threats today.”
Speaking in the debate following Wallace’s announcements, SNP MP Stewart McDonald made the link between the increase in nuclear warheads, saying the increase was “an expensive folly that should be cancelled with immediate effect”.
Asking what the review would mean for the armed forces “footprint” in Scotland, McDonald reminded Wallace of the Tory-LibDem government promise of 12,500 personnel based in Scotland made ahead of the 2014 referendum.
In reply, Wallace said that there were currently 28,000 defence jobs in Scotland and there would be more at Lossiemouth in particular.
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