Frontline Yorkshire as defence budget axe falls

AN eight per cent cut in Britain's defence budget, announced yesterday, will mean the loss of 42,000 jobs – and put the future of military bases in Yorkshire in question.

Troop numbers will be cut by 17,000 and another 25,000 civilian jobs at the Ministry of Defence will go over the next four years under the Government's defence review. It will leave Britain unable to carry out operations on the scale of the invasion of Iraq or the current mission in Afghanistan.

Prime Minister David Cameron was yesterday forced to defend decisions to go ahead with the purchase of two aircraft carriers – even though one will be mothballed after three years and will never be suitable for fighter jets – and to put off a final decision on renewing the Trident nuclear deterrent until after the next election.

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An overhaul of the RAF will mean three bases are no longer needed. One will be Kinloss in Scotland, while there is uncertainty over the future of bases at Linton-on-Ouse and Leeming in North Yorkshire. The Army is also reviewing its regional administrative structure.

The cut in the 37bn defence budget is much lower than many other Whitehall Departments will face in today's Comprehensive Spending Review, and Mr Cameron insisted that spending on Afghanistan would not be hit as he unveiled the Strategic Defence and Security Review yesterday. He blamed Labour for massively overspending and ordering outdated equipment.

Mr Cameron said: "This is not simply a cost-saving exercise to get to grips with the biggest budget deficit in post-war history. It is about taking the right decisions to protect our national security in the years ahead."

The review will lead to a radical overhaul of the armed forces, the Navy and RAF each losing 5,000 personnel and the Army 7,000. Up to 30,000 troops could be mobilised for a short period of time in any crisis but the UK would not be able to launch the same scale of operations as in Iraq and Afghanistan in the past seven years.

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The Army will lose 40 per cent of its battle tanks, 35 per cent of its heavy artillery and one battalion, although infantry regiments will be safeguarded. The Navy will lose four frigates, while the flagship HMS Ark Royal will be decommissioned as well as either HMS Ocean or HMS Illustrious. The RAF fleet of Harrier jump jets will be scrapped as well as the increasingly costly Nimrod reconnaissance plan programme.

Mr Cameron will also face unease among backbenchers over the delay in renewing Trident, which he announced alongside significant cuts in the number of warheads. Critics are also worried about a 10-year gap before the the country has an aircraft carrier operating with a fleet of fighter jets, although there will be 12 new Chinook transport helicopters, more armoured vehicles and extra investment in special forces.

The axeing of the Nimrods – despite 3bn already spent on their development – and Harriers, as well as a cut in the Tornado fleet, will mean three RAF bases face the axe, although they could yet be saved as accommodation will be needed for 20,000 British troops being brought home from Germany by 2020.

Officials will begin a review to decide which bases will be hit, but Thirsk and Malton MP Anne McIntosh said she would be "closely monitoring" the implications for RAF Linton on Ouse.

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The review was dismissed by Labour leader Ed Miliband as a cost-cutting exercise. He said: "It is a spending review dressed up as a defence review, it has been chaotically conducted, it has been hastily prepared and it is simply not credible as a strategic blueprint for our future defence needs."