Labour to blame for Green Howards cuts Hammond insists

Speaking in the House of Commons yesterday, Mr Hammond said the huge funding deficit his department faced when the Coalition came to power had left him with no choice but to reduce overall numbers.

“We have a £38bn black hole in the defence budget,” he said. “We have to resolve that problem in order to make our armed forces sustainable in the future – in order to make sure we can properly equip them when we ask them to put themselves in danger.

“We have set out a coherent plan which will deliver a smaller but better equipped armed forces which are sustainable in the medium and long-term.”

Mr Hammond unveiled the cuts programme earlier this month, with the Army to lose 17 major units as its numbers are reduced from 102,000 to 82,000 by the end of the decade. The number of reservists will double to 30,000.

Barnsley Central MP Dan Jarvis, who served as an Army Major before becoming a Labour MP last year, warned there was “real risk” to many of the measures announced, including the increased use of the private sector for logistical support.

“The potential cost-saving benefits of the cuts to capability that this government have announced do not outweigh the risk that they pose to our ability to leverage force in an uncertain and changing world,” Mr Jarvis said.

But Mr Hammond said Labour had “no alternative suggestion” to the cuts he had outlined.