Fox wants build-up of reserve soldiers

Dr Fox said he wanted to ensure the Territorial Army was “properly trained and equipped” so more soldiers were ready for front-line duties.

He said he would inform MPs today of what he believed the “appropriate size of the Army in total” should be, but a reduction in the regular Army would only happen when the Government invested more in reserve forces and the UK had successfully withdrawn from Afghanistan.

“We cannot simply see the reserves as a group of people from whom we draw a six-month tour of Afghanistan and let the rest wither on the vine, that’s simply not good enough. What I intend to do is see a build-up again of the reserves so that their utility is greater, and also so that over time we create the sort of civil contingency in the UK that sadly we’ve been lacking.”

Dr Fox was asked whether he was prepared for criticism that reserve soldiers were the “Dad’s Army” equivalent of the regular Army.

“I do feel it’s a little offensive when we’ve used the reserves so successfully in Afghanistan to talk about them as Dad’s Army,” he replied. “In fact, one of the problems with the reserves is that there has not been sufficient investment in recent years.”

Yesterday’s statement comes after MPs warned against any premature withdrawal of British troops from Afghanistan.

The Commons Defence Committee said pulling out any more than a few hundred support troops could undermine the international coalition’s strategy while dangerously weakening the remaining forces.

Following his visit earlier this month to Afghanistan, Prime Minister David Cameron announced the drawdown of a further 500 troops, cutting total force numbers to 9,000 by September 2012. It coincides with the formal start of the process of transition to Afghan control, due to be completed by the end of 2014.