Families of soldiers killed in Afghanistan today called on ministers to abandon plans to axe their sons’ battalion, claiming it was being done for “political reasons”.
They joined a 400-strong march of retired officers and soldiers who are demanding a reprieve for the 2nd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, recently based in Hounslow.
The battalion lost seven soldiers on its last tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2009. It is due to be disbanded by autumn 2014, with the loss of about 600 jobs, under plans to axe 20,000 soldiers from the Army. Opponents say the decision is “nonsensical”, and has been made to retain more Scottish battalions in the run-up to the independence referendum.
The parents of three soldiers killed in Helmand — Sergeant Simon Valentine, 29, Fusilier Louis Carter, 19, and Lance Corporal James Fullarton, 24 — marched from Whitehall to the Commons to hear a debate on the battalion’s future. Tory MP John Baron, leading the debate, said: “If there are to be cuts they have to be based on military logic.
“I have evidence, in a letter from the Secretary of State and answers to written parliamentary questions, that 2RRF was not going to be disbanded on these grounds because its record of recruitment was good. What did for 2RRF was the political decision to save more poorly-recruited Scottish battalions ahead of the referendum.”
The MP is a former Fusiliers officer. The regiment was founded in 1685 by James II to protect the guns at the Tower of London, where it retains its regimental headquarters.
Former colonel of the regiment Brigadier Trevor Minter, 59, said: “It was me that was told about the cuts.
I couldn’t believe it. I believe there has been political interference.”
An Army spokesman denied the decision was made on recruitment alone. The Army “considered proportionality of outcome, with no cap badge deletions and no regiment losing more than one battalion.”
