32,000 MoD personnel face axe under budget cuts, admits minister

Massive defence cuts that would mean the axe for 32,000 personnel are possible, the Armed Forces minister admitted today.

Bill Rammell spoke out after an independent report predicted a major cut from 175,000 trained men and women to just 142,000, a reduction of a fifth.

Mr Rammel welcomed the Royal United Services Institute think tank's predictions as a contribution to the Strategic Defence Review, which is due after the election.

He added: "The Chancellor has said not a penny will be cut from the defence budget next year but it is not possible to give a meaningful assessment beyond 2010/11."

Even on a "cautiously optimistic" basis, the MoD's budget was likely to fall by 11 per cent in real terms by 2017, the report said. But a deeper reduction of about 15 per cent over the next three years could not be ruled out.

Personnel numbers would have to fall 20 per cent to meet such cutbacks. Ships, aircraft and ground formations would also be reduced by a similar amount.