The battle to be the party of the armed forces

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has the unenviable task today of announcing a cull of army units as the force is cut from 102,000 to 82,000. The Army 2020 review, the launch of which was delayed beyond Armed Forces Day last weekend, also doubles the number of reservists to 30,000. This leaves it half the size it was during the Cold War era, and the smallest since the Boer War.

This is obviously deeply unpleasant for those troops whose units are being abolished. It is also uncomfortable for the Tories, who have long enjoyed the reputation of being the party of the armed forces. Tim Montgomerie tweeted this morning: ‘Biggest tax burden since WWII. Smallest army since Victorian times. This isn’t Conservatism.’ Bob Stewart told BBC News that he was ‘deeply upset’ by the cuts, though he defended Hammond.

Other parties have already tried to muscle in on what they see as a deterioration relationship between the Conservatives and the military. When he launched Labour’s policy review on defence, Jim Murphy said: ‘The old ill-informed orthodoxy says that Labour is the party on the NHS and the Conservatives the party of the Armed Forces. In truth we must be credible on both when this Government is credible on neither.’

Murphy told Sky News today: ‘This process has been flawed. It’s been delayed, there’s been political manipulation, the whole thing was postponed to get through Armed Forces day at the weekend so that the Prime Minister can meet members of the Armed Forces and the battalions without having already abolished them to save his face. That’s no way to behave, it’s callous and unconcerned with the well-being of our forces.’

The problem for Labour is clear, though. The party left the Ministry of Defence in a real mess when it left Government, and these cuts are in part Labour’s legacy for the armed forces.

Meanwhile UKIP is also taking aim at defence policy. Nigel Farage tweeted this morning: ‘The latest round of Army cuts shows the govt does not care about the forces or the country.’

Hammond today will say his hands are tied. But these cuts leave the government vulnerable on defence, and the opposition will lose no time in exploiting that weakness.