Royal Marines face axe as military looks for £10bn savings

Royal Marines face axe as military looks for £10bn savings

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Military chiefs are being forced to find £10billion of savings over the next decade amid escalating costs of ships and jets, it was claimed last night.

They have launched a review to try and find at least £1billion a year in additional savings from budgets that are already stretched.

It is understood the size of the Royal Marines could be reduced, with the frontline role of one its three commando units being axed altogether.





Overseas training is also about to be suspended, according to the Times.

Sources told the newspaper that the replacement submarines for the Trident nuclear deterrent were likely to exceed their £41billion maximum budget by £6billion.

The cost of dozens of aircraft bought in dollars - such as the F-35 jump jet - and kit bought in euros is also set to soar because of the weak pound.  

The military is also facing a shortage of support equipment such as spare parts and ammunition.



The shortfall is nearly double that outlined by a National Audit Office (NAO) report in January.

The report said a staggering £5.6billion of additional savings must be found over the next 10 years.

An MOD Spokesperson said: 'Spending is monitored continually to ensure the £35 billion Defence budget focuses on front line priorities and delivers value for money by maximising efficiencies.'

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon repeatedly sidestepped questions over cuts to numbers, claimed there was 'not a lot' that he recognised in the report.



He said: 'We have got 7,000 Royal Marines. The actual balance, the number of sailors and the number of marines, that's a matter for the First Sea Lord to keep under review.'

Told it was noticeable that he was failing to deny there would be cuts to numbers, he replied: 'What I am saying to you is we have 7,000 Royal Marines and it is for the First Sea Lord, who runs the Royal Navy, to look all the time at the balance between marines and sailors, and I have not agreed any cut in the size of the Royal Marines.

'What we are looking at is the way in which our armed forces work, the different tasks that they have and we are constantly looking to see that they are fit for purpose in what we do.

'So if something is no longer needed, if it's redundant, we need to make sure that we can put the savings back into new equipment.

'That applies to buildings, it also applies to the way we work and the efficiencies we need.'



Rear Admiral Chris Parry, an ex-Nato commander and former director-general in the Ministry of Defence, said the armed forces were being paid for on 'post-dated cheques'.

He told Today: 'It's an inevitable consequence of the creative accounting that took place when the previous administration claimed to have balanced the books in the Ministry of Defence.

'They merely kicked the can down the road and the unfunded chickens have come home to roost.



'At the moment, we have got a cut-price armed forces that is going to have to operate in a very sophisticated operational environment and we are failing to meet that challenge.'

It comes as Sir Michael is to join US counterpart Jim Mattis in insisting more allies must move towards the target of spending 2 per cent of GDP on defence, when they meet for talks in London.

Their message will be underlined by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson at a meeting of Nato foreign ministers in Brussels.

Since assuming office in January, the US administration of President Donald Trump has been pressing European members to take on a greater share of the burden of collective defence.

Britain and the US are among five of the 28 members of the alliance that meet the 2% target.

At their talks, Sir Michael and Mr Mattis will discuss measures to modernise Nato, including streamlining the command structure, as well as progress on a series of joint equipment projects including the F-35 Lightning joint strike fighter.

Sir Michael is due to announce £90 million investment at RAF Marham in Norfolk to support Britain's consignment of the new aircraft.