Tories Admit They Don’t Have a Target for Armed Forces Numbers – Guido Fawkes

Tories Admit They Don’t Have a Target for Armed Forces Numbers

Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge was at Tory centrist think tank Onward’s headquarters today to announce a fresh Tory policy to ring fence money allocated to the defence estate to expand home ownership and reduce rents for the Ministry of Defence and armed forces. He pointed to a new survey revealing 64% of military personnel are mulling quitting due to the toll on their personal lives, while 30% say the dire state of service accommodation might be the final straw…

Cartlidge insisted the policy is about “retaining” troops, particularly as the Army shrank by 1,340 last year alone. Guido asked whether the Tories had a target for regular service personnel numbers, Cartlidge replied:

“No, I don’t have a target. I think the crucial point is you’ve got to stop the level of the number of people leaving. These issues are fundamental so you know you’ve got to be pretty brave to think you can suddenly stop this.”

Still no word from Kemi on a defence spending target either. Labour is screwing up armed forces recruitment, the Tories need a position…