Labour has criticised the Government for allowing Army numbers to fall below its target figure for the first time.
Shadow defence secretary John Healey said “our forces can’t afford five more years of the Tories”, after Ministry of Defence personnel statistics showed soldier numbers dropping below the 73,000 target.
The Government’s defence plans include reducing the size of the regular Army from a commitment of 82,000 troops to 73,000 by 2025 – down from 97,000 a decade ago.
The Tories have already cut the Army to its smallest size since Napoleon, now they’ve allowed soldier numbers to slump below their own target strength.
— John Healey (@JohnHealey_MP) May 30, 2024
Our Forces can’t afford five more years of the Tories. Britain will be better defended with Labour.https://t.co/OsEUn7iK8A
But the data released on Thursday showed that numbers had dipped even further, to 72,510, in April.
Troop numbers fell by 2,320 over the past year, from 74,830 in April 2023, according to the quarterly figures.
The numbers relate to personnel who are “full-time trade trained” and ready for deployment.
Mr Healey said on social media site X, formerly Twitter: “The Tories have already cut the Army to its smallest size since Napoleon, now they’ve allowed soldier numbers to slump below their own target strength.
“Our forces can’t afford five more years of the Tories. Britain will be better defended with Labour.”
The shrinking size of the Army and recruitment issues have raised concerns about the capabilities of the British military in what Defence Secretary Grant Shapps has called a “pre-war world”.
A former head of the armed forces, Lord Stirrup, last week told Parliament that the “outflow from the Army far exceeded the intake” last year and that many would-be recruits “gave up” because “the process takes far too long”.
Ministers have failed to hit their recruitment targets in every year since 2010.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has committed to increasing defence spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030.
Labour has said it would meet the target when economic conditions allow.
