Afghan war preventing UK army cuts, says Fox
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
London, July 23, IRNA -- The British government’s plans to cut the size of the country’s army in line with necessary defence budget reductions is being hampered by the war in Afghanistan, Defence Secretary Liam Fox has admitted.
“Everything that we might want to do with the Army will be constrained by what’s happening in Afghanistan,” Fox said when warning the government cannot afford to protect Britain against all potential threats to its security.
“Any changes will have to be phased in. But with the Army in particular the difficulties come with how stretched we currently are providing forces in Afghanistan,” he said.
Last month, the Royal United Services Institute warned that Britain is facing such a magnitude of budget cuts that the “pain” will have to be shared across the capabilities of all three of the country’s armed forces.
It suggested that in the medium term, the Ministry of Defence could face “a cut in total service personnel numbers of around 20-25 per cent by 2019.”
A reduction by a quarter would cut the strength of the army to 75,000 troops.
But in an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Fox insisted that no troops would be made redundant until the fighting in Afghanistan was over.
“I did not come into politics to see reductions in the Armed Forces but I also did not come into politics to see the destruction of the economy,” he said about the task facing the government over the country’s record budget deficit.
Since the Second World War, Britain has maintained a force that can conduct all-out warfare, counter-insurgencies such as in Afghanistan or medium scale campaigns like the Falklands or Sierra Leone.
The defence secretary suggested that due to the dire state of the public finances, the country will have to give up one or more of these capabilities, which have been maintained at the same time as contributing to collective security pacts such as Nato.
“We don’t have the money as a country to protect ourselves against every potential future threat,” he said.
The military had to be configured only for “realistic potential future threats”, he said.
Fox cast doubt on the future of the 25,000 troops currently stationed in Germany after previously saying he hoped to withdraw them at some point, leaving Britain without a presence in the country for the first time since 1945.
“I would say, what do Challenger tanks in Germany and the costs of maintaining them and the personnel required to train for them, what does that contribute to what’s happening in Afghanistan?” he asked.
When launching a government consultation paper on defence reforms in February, former defence secretary Bob Ainsworth said that Britain must examine its role in the world and the resources it needs to perform it.
“Afghanistan is the top priority today but we must also ensure that our Armed Forces are ready to confront the challenges of tomorrow,” Ainsworth said.
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End News / IRNA / News Code 1242017
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