MPs find the armed forces are overstretched

31 Jan 08
Britain's armed forces are overstretched and demoralised, according to a report by the Commons defence select committee.

01 February 2008

Britain's armed forces are overstretched and demoralised, according to a report by the Commons defence select committee.

The strain of operating at full capacity in Afghanistan and Iraq has left the services 'deteriorating', as is the Ministry of Defence's performance against its key Public Service Agreement targets, according to the MPs.

With the voluntary departure of experienced personnel and a growing recruitment crisis, the report warns that neither the army nor the RAF are likely to make their personnel targets for 2008.

The committee welcomed the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007 settlement for defence, which provided an extra £7.7bn by 2011, but it warned that the estimated costs for the Astute submarine and Type 45 destroyer projects had spiralled by £500m since March 2006.

The committee said: 'We are deeply concerned that the armed forces have been operating at or above the level of concurrent operations they are resourced and structured to deliver for seven of the last eight years, and for every year since 2002.'

Committee chair James Arbuthnot said: 'The army, the navy, the RAF are not able to do what they need to be able to do because people are leaving and that is, of itself, a strong indication of falling morale.'

Defence minister Bob Ainsworth said the forces were achieving 'our highest priority – success on operations'.

 

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