Labour fears long-term consequences of defence cuts

About 920 soldiers and 930 RAF personnel have been told they were being made redundant, 750 of them against their will, in the first wave of military job losses.

The head of the armed forces, General Sir David Richards, acknowledged that it was an “unsettling time” for all personnel and a “significant challenge” for those made redundant.

Personnel were made aware of decisions on their future as Prime Minister David Cameron hailed the armed forces as the people “who make our country great”.

The Army is making around 260 compulsory redundancies, 140 of them Gurkhas, as part of the coalition’s efforts to tackle the deficit and bring the defence budget under control.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) expects some Gurkhas facing the axe to transfer to other infantry regiments which are currently below full strength.

A total of 869 soldiers applied for redundancy but only 660 of them are being allowed to leave.

Some 622 British airmen and women sought voluntary redundancy, of whom 440 had their applications granted. The RAF is also making about 490 compulsory redundancies.

The plans to cut the posts were announced earlier this year as part of a programme which could see 11,000 redundancies across the RAF, Army and Royal Navy by April 2015 to bring the defence budget under control.

Shadow Defence Secretary Jim Murphy said: “Once you sack an RAF trainee pilot they aren’t coming back, they’re gone for good. So, this has got very long-term consequences for our country.”

Personnel receiving the operational allowance, paid to those serving on the frontline in Libya and Afghanistan, were exempt from redundancy.

Troops about to deploy to Afghanistan or who have recently returned from there were also protected from losing their jobs.

Members of the armed forces accepted for voluntary redundancy will serve six months’ notice while those forced out will serve a year.

Defence Secretary Liam Fox said: “The responsibility for these redundancies lies with the incompetence of the last Labour government who left the nation’s finances broken and a £38bn black hole in the defence budget.

“The tough measures we have taken will bring the budget largely into balance for the first time in a generation.

“The extra money we have allocated for the equipment budget from 2015 will allow our defence capability to grow in the second half of the decade.

“Of course, redundancies are always sad news, but we will continue to have strong and capable forces, and we appreciate the hard work of our brave armed forces.”