Post by nickd on Sept 1, 2011 23:06:31 GMT 1
Gurkhas face sack as PM praises troops
David Cameron today praised Britain's armed forces as hundreds of soldiers and RAF crew were being told that they are being made redundant.
Speaking at a ceremony at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, to mark the transfer of the route of repatriations from RAF Lyneham, the Prime Minister paid tribute to Britain's military who "made our country great".
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He said: "There is no greater privilege than meeting those who serve our country. I cannot stress enough the sacrifices they make for us and we cannot thank them enough for what they do."
But Tory MP Patrick Mercer, a former Army officer, highlighted that the service remembering British troops who have died in action was taking place as others were being told they are losing their job.
He said: "There is a strange irony that on the very day that we pay tribute to those who have fallen in action that others who have no doubt served in campaigns such as Iraq and Afghanistan/Pakistan are being made redundant."
What an appalling way to treat our soldiers
Here's an article from the Kent News
The Gurkhas are facing massive job cuts after the Government confirmed the latest round of military redundancies as part of a cost-cutting exercise.
Kent is home to the 2nd Battalion Royal Gurkha Rifles, based at Shorncliffe, Folkestone, and nearly half of the soldiers from the Maidstone-based 36 Engineers Regiment are Queen’s Gurkha Engineers.
But around 140 will today find out they have lost their jobs as part of a wave of 920 soldiers across the UK being cut as a result of the Strategic Defence Review.
Some 660 of those being shown the door will be voluntary redundancies. But of the remainder, more than half will be Gurkhas.
The Ministry of Defence say changes to the Gurkhas terms of service three years ago - bringing them into line with the rest of the Army - meant they were now more vulnerable to cuts.
The cuts will also see the RAF dismiss 930 staff. Some 440 will be voluntary, the rest compulsory.
Defence Secretary Liam Fox said: “Of course redundancies are always sad news, but we will continue to have strong and capable forces and we appreciate the hard work of our brave armed forces.”
I heard about this on the news just after a programme on the 9/11 terror which wiped out thousands of lives, are we really so sure we are no longer in danger of something like this happening again?
And with all these cuts in our services, are we really sure we are adequately protected?
This is just the tip of the ice berg, there are many more job cuts to be made yet. This can never be right can it?
www.kentnews.co.uk/news/gurkhas_feel_the_brunt_of_army_job_cuts_1_1010263