bobdina
10-29-2009, 10:49 AM
Brown Reverses MoD's £20m TA Cut
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Gordon Brown bowed to intense pressure from MPs of all parties yesterday and personally intervened to cancel a proposal by the cash-strapped Ministry of Defence to impose a planned £20m cut in the Territorial Army's training budget, following representations by the former defence secretary John Reid and other senior Labour backbenchers such as Lindsay Hoyle.
The U-turn came in advance of an opposition-led Commons debate today that threatened to see a backbench revolt reminiscent of the government's defeat over the rights of former Gurkhas to remain in Britain.
Brown will tell the Commons today that the cuts, which provoked outrage from reservists as well as MPs, would be restored allowing TA soldiers to continue routine training one night a week, as well as one weekend a month.
The prime minister ordered the changes to reverse the proposed TA budget cuts after discussions with Bob Ainsworth, the defence secretary, and the chief of the defence staff, General Sir David Richards.
David Cameron, the Conservative leader, raised the issue at last Wednesday's prime minister's questions.
On Monday Bill Rammell, the armed forces minister, told MPs that the government had compromised by agreeing that monthly drill hall training for TA reservists would be restored.
That measure reduced the proposed cuts from £20m to £17.5m.
The cuts were required to focus resources on Afghanistan, but Reid led the Labour backbench opposition to the move during the statement on Monday saying he feared the cuts might reduce the number of people capable or willing to come forward to serve in the army in Afghanistan.
Last night, Reid praised Brown for listening to the objections, saying he had taken time out from the recession and pressing European issues to listen to his concerns.
"I very much welcome the fact that the prime minister has been prepared to listen to the issues and personally intervene to make sure that the Territorial Army training budget is retained," Reid said.
Defence officials last night confirmed that the cuts would be restored but were at pains to point out that training for the growing number of reservists deployed to Afghanistan would not have been affected.
Nevertheless, the move was just the latest indication of the pressures on the defence budget and of growing tensions between the MoD and No 10 Downing Street.
The prime minister's recent U-turn allowing Gurkha veterans to settle in the UK was just one example of how Brown does not understand the ethos and concerns of the military, defence officials say.
A dispute over Gurkha pension rights is currently being heard in the high court.
The furore over £20m public spending cut also underlines how difficult it is for weakened ministers to push through even the smallest public spending reductions.
Reid said that he welcomed the "reaffirmation of training" for the TA and said it would reassure its members. "Gordon Brown and Bob Ainsworth have always said that those who are taking the risks and making sacrifices would receive the back-up that they needed and I am delighted that they have confirmed that by their willingness to intervene in this," Reid said.
Reid and Eric Joyce, the former parliamentary aide to Ainsworth who resigned last month in protest against the government's handling of military issues, are understood to be among many expressing concern about the possible impact on recruitment and retention of territorials.
Hoyle, another Labour critic of the cuts, said that he had directly asked Brown to intervene in the dispute.
Gerald Howarth, shadow defence minister, said that the government's climbdown was a victory for Cameron. "David Cameron raised this issue at PMQs two weeks ago and we welcome this climbdown from Gordon Brown," he said.
"It is a shame that he and his ministers caused so much dismay to those loyal members of the TA training at home and putting their lives on the line in Afghanistan."
Nick Harvey, the Liberal Democrat defence spokesman, said: "The state of the TA is much too important to be used as a political football in this way.
"It was a shocking error of judgment for the government to have contemplated this cut in the first place."
http://www.modoracle.com/news/Brown-Reverses-MoDs-20m-TA-Cut_19148.html
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Gordon Brown bowed to intense pressure from MPs of all parties yesterday and personally intervened to cancel a proposal by the cash-strapped Ministry of Defence to impose a planned £20m cut in the Territorial Army's training budget, following representations by the former defence secretary John Reid and other senior Labour backbenchers such as Lindsay Hoyle.
The U-turn came in advance of an opposition-led Commons debate today that threatened to see a backbench revolt reminiscent of the government's defeat over the rights of former Gurkhas to remain in Britain.
Brown will tell the Commons today that the cuts, which provoked outrage from reservists as well as MPs, would be restored allowing TA soldiers to continue routine training one night a week, as well as one weekend a month.
The prime minister ordered the changes to reverse the proposed TA budget cuts after discussions with Bob Ainsworth, the defence secretary, and the chief of the defence staff, General Sir David Richards.
David Cameron, the Conservative leader, raised the issue at last Wednesday's prime minister's questions.
On Monday Bill Rammell, the armed forces minister, told MPs that the government had compromised by agreeing that monthly drill hall training for TA reservists would be restored.
That measure reduced the proposed cuts from £20m to £17.5m.
The cuts were required to focus resources on Afghanistan, but Reid led the Labour backbench opposition to the move during the statement on Monday saying he feared the cuts might reduce the number of people capable or willing to come forward to serve in the army in Afghanistan.
Last night, Reid praised Brown for listening to the objections, saying he had taken time out from the recession and pressing European issues to listen to his concerns.
"I very much welcome the fact that the prime minister has been prepared to listen to the issues and personally intervene to make sure that the Territorial Army training budget is retained," Reid said.
Defence officials last night confirmed that the cuts would be restored but were at pains to point out that training for the growing number of reservists deployed to Afghanistan would not have been affected.
Nevertheless, the move was just the latest indication of the pressures on the defence budget and of growing tensions between the MoD and No 10 Downing Street.
The prime minister's recent U-turn allowing Gurkha veterans to settle in the UK was just one example of how Brown does not understand the ethos and concerns of the military, defence officials say.
A dispute over Gurkha pension rights is currently being heard in the high court.
The furore over £20m public spending cut also underlines how difficult it is for weakened ministers to push through even the smallest public spending reductions.
Reid said that he welcomed the "reaffirmation of training" for the TA and said it would reassure its members. "Gordon Brown and Bob Ainsworth have always said that those who are taking the risks and making sacrifices would receive the back-up that they needed and I am delighted that they have confirmed that by their willingness to intervene in this," Reid said.
Reid and Eric Joyce, the former parliamentary aide to Ainsworth who resigned last month in protest against the government's handling of military issues, are understood to be among many expressing concern about the possible impact on recruitment and retention of territorials.
Hoyle, another Labour critic of the cuts, said that he had directly asked Brown to intervene in the dispute.
Gerald Howarth, shadow defence minister, said that the government's climbdown was a victory for Cameron. "David Cameron raised this issue at PMQs two weeks ago and we welcome this climbdown from Gordon Brown," he said.
"It is a shame that he and his ministers caused so much dismay to those loyal members of the TA training at home and putting their lives on the line in Afghanistan."
Nick Harvey, the Liberal Democrat defence spokesman, said: "The state of the TA is much too important to be used as a political football in this way.
"It was a shocking error of judgment for the government to have contemplated this cut in the first place."
http://www.modoracle.com/news/Brown-Reverses-MoDs-20m-TA-Cut_19148.html