Updated on
Summary
The head of the army has warned that British troops are facing a crisis of deteriorating morale on the home front that risks undermining the war in Afghanistan. In a confidential draft memo prepared for ministers, General Sir David Richards, chief of the general staff (CGS), said that recent cuts to the defence budget are having a cumulative and corrosive effect on our soldiers and their families. Cuts to housing, shortages of training equipment and even the cancellation of sports events between soldiers tours of duty were making them and their families feel undervalued, the army chief wrote. The leaked memo will be seized on by the Tories as opening a new front in the tussle between army chiefs and ministers over the politically sensitive issue of defence cuts. It echoes the row last year when Richardss predecessor, General Sir Richard Dannatt, stepped down after speaking out about equipment shortages as well as poor pay and conditions. It later emerged that government figures had tried to smear him over his expenses. A senior military commander emphasised yesterday that it was not Richardss intention to criticise ministers: Hes not whingeing. Hes simply trying to flag up what he believes is a vital issue that needs their urgent attention. In the memo to the defence board, which comprises ministers and service chiefs, Richards shifts the focus of criticism from the war effort in Afghanistan to the treatment of troops on their return home. While there had been significant progress on the front line, Richards said, the treatment of soldiers when they returned for 24 months between tours is so poor that it is threatening to undermine the war effort. Marked restricted, the memo reports a summary of an internal poll of 5,000 soldiers and their families at units in Britain, Germany and Cyprus over the past four months. The survey was discussed at the executive committee of the army board this month. Its results appear to be so alarming that Richards decided to alert ministers to its key findings. My greatest concern ... is the deteriorating experience of soldiers and their families ... between tours which, the [survey] team reports, is disaffecting attitudes, damaging morale and risks undermining our ability to sustain the campaign . . . he wrote. We need our soldiers to be ready, mentally and physically, to endure repeated tours in Afghanistan, in a harsh environment, with the real prospect of significant casualties each time. To maintain the necessary morale and cohesion, they must see tangible signs between tours that they and their families are valued.
