Rishi Sunak urged to scrap sweeping Army cuts as war rages in Ukraine
Labour has launched a last-ditch bid to prevent thousands of troops being cut from the Army.
The Tories are slashing the size of the service from 82,000 soldiers to 73,500 and scrapping a third of its Challenger main battle tanks under cuts announced two years ago.
Critics hoped Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would trigger a rethink.
But Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who is bidding to become NATO’s Secretary-General later this year, is said to be pressing ahead with the move when the Government publishes a Defence Command Paper next month.
In January, Mr Wallace admitted successive governments “hollowed out and underfunded” Britain’s military over decades.
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Latest figures show the Army has already dropped to 75,710 soldiers since the Government’s Integrated Review of defence, security and foreign affairs was revealed in March 2021 - 11 months before Russian waged war on Ukraine, transforming European security.
Shadow Defence Secretary John Healey will today call for a halt to more cuts.
Shadow Defence Secretary John Healey will speak at the London Defence Conference this afternoon (Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)He will tell the London Defence Conference: “The Conservatives must halt the hollowing out of our armed forces to keep Britain safe.
“While threats increase, our hollowed out forces are working with fewer troops and without vital kit they need to fight and fulfil our NATO obligations.
“This is the failure of 13 years of Conservative Government.
“Ministers must reboot defence plans by halting Army cuts, ensuring our NATO obligations are fulfilled and renewing Britain’s contract with our forces.”
Labour believes the "moral contract" between the public and military has been "corroded".
Mr Healey is expected to point to a survey last year that found just 45% of personnel were satisfied with service life and 39% suffered low morale in their unit.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace previously admitted successive governments had "hollowed out" Britain's armed forces (Getty Images)Meanwhile, a series of high-profile defence contracts, including the Ajax armoured vehicle and the E7 Wedgetail spy plane, have experienced delays, which Labour claims have undermined the UK's ability to meet its NATO commitments.
As well as an end to Army cuts, Labour has called for a strategy to replace vital equipment which has been sent to Ukraine.
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Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin has previously warned that returning the UK's stockpiles to pre-Ukraine war levels could take "several years".
March's Budget saw the Government promise another £5billion to defence spending over the next two years, with most of the money pumped into the Dreadnought nuclear-armed submarine programme and replenishing weapons caches after arms were shipped to Kyiv.
Rishi Sunak also pledged to boost defence spending from 2.16% of GDP to 2.5%, but refused to set a deadline.
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