Reverse cuts to the UK’s armed forces, MP tells Parliament

On the floor of the House of Commons last night, Cumbrian MP Tim Farron made the case for the Government to restore the number of people serving in the country’s armed forces.

Figures published by the Ministry of Defence show that there were 184,865 UK service personnel as of October 1st – 7,440 people, or 3.9 per cent, lower than last year.

Meanwhile numbers in the Army have decreased from 109,600 in 2000, to 76,950 in 2023, a drop of 29.8% in personnel.

Speaking during a general debate on Defence in Parliament yesterday, Tim said: “Over the last 25 years, across both sides of the House - I will take my own share of responsibility for this - and maybe across the west as a whole, we have been complacent about the post-cold war situation and about the fragility or vitality of our defence of western liberal democracy?

“One way to demonstrate that we have understood that we are now in a different place is to reverse the cuts to our armed forces.

“Backing our soldiers - our men and women who put themselves in harm’s way - involves backing them with the resources to increase their numbers and to get the size of the Army up to, say, 100,000, so that we can demonstrate to the rest of the world that we are serious about standing shoulder to shoulder with our NATO colleagues and defending democracy and freedom around the world.”