Army could be slashed to just 60,000 soldiers amid 'financial crunch', warns ex-minister

THE BRITISH Army could be slashed to just 60,000 troops, a former defence minister has warned.

The Army could be left with just 60,000 soldiers, Sir Nick Harvey warnedGETTY

The Army could be left with just 60,000 soldiers, Sir Nick Harvey warned

Sir Nick Harvey revealed the Ministry of Defence was examining plans to cut the number of soldiers to just 60,000 due to costs.

The Liberal Democrat MP warned that the MoD was facing a "financial crunch" which was forcing cuts.

Under current plans, the number of soldiers is already set to be reduced to 82,000 – but Sir Nick said that the cuts could go even further.

Speaking in the House of Commons, he told MPs: “There are already paper exercises going on in looking at what an army of just 60,000 would look like because of the financial crunch that the department is going to be facing.”

This would leave the Army with the lowest number of soldiers for 100 years.

Sir Nick, who acted as Armed Forces minister until 2012, stood by his claims even after the MoD denied that any such cuts were in the pipeline.

The Liberal Democrat also said that spending on defence could drop from the current 2.2 per cent of national income to 1.5 per cent.

There are already paper exercises going on in looking at what an army of just 60,000 would look like

Sir Nick Harvey

He questioned why a renewal of the Trident nuclear deterrent got an "automatic bye" through the cuts, when it would cost more than £100billion over 30 years.

He added: "We know that the national deficit remains a serious problem.

"We do not hear from any of the political parties – not mine, nor anybody else's – that defence is going to be insulated or protected from a tough comprehensive spending review later this year.

"If defence was to face another cut comparable to that which it took in 2010, which seems to me entirely possible, then the proportion of our gross domestic product that we are spending on defence – which is already destined to go below 2 per cent next year – will make rapid headway towards 1.5 per cent of GDP.”

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