Is the government right to tell the army to stop non-essential training exercises to save money?
The British Army has been ordered to suspend collective training exercises for most UK-based units not preparing for imminent deployment. This move aims to save around £30 million amid in-year budget pressures, even as defence spending rises to 2.5% of national income. Prioritised activities focus on drone warfare, modernisation and operational readiness informed by the Ukraine conflict, while large-scale exercises with tanks and Apache helicopters are cancelled.
20 Opinions
The military have only a finite budget and it is their decision to save money by reducing training not the government. I served from 1964 to 1999 and this happened quite a few times over that period. It's nothing new.
Given how things in the world are shaping up.at the moment, cutting important exercises for the Military now is a very bad move.
Where's the evidence for military exercises that aren't essential?
I believe they are intentionally harming our Armed Forces as they fear a coup - as so they should. Labour is a criminal organisation - they are in hock to UN WEF EU etc and are desperate for a war to protect the narco/Nazi statelet that is Ukraine. They will send our troops under equipped & trained to protect Ukraine which does not have accepted borders but refuse & actively imports the dregs ofthe world through our border as ‘refugees’. Tories equally to blame.
We give £23m a year to the terminally useless UNRWA who has been failing to peace-keep in the Mddle East for decades. Redirect that to defence exercises.
Define non-essential?
Training is to learn how to keep alive in battle situations, to withdraw this is criminal. All recruits should walk out until their training is reinstated. Blood y politicians and civil servants ain't got a clue
NO The old mantra of the British forces used to be Train hard, fight easy That mentality used to mean the British forces in BAOR were some of the most respected within in NATO in the 70s, 80s & 90s. And once the iron curtain came down it, Eastern block forces said that they to feared the British (due to training) as much as the Germans (because they would be defending they homeland) more than any other NATO forces
What may be deemed "non essential" today may end up costing lives tomorrow.
Since when is it for the Government to dictate to the military how they should train their soldiers.