Armed Forces 'can't cope with more missions'

[SO19]

Armed Forces 'can't cope with more missions'
By Bonnie Malkin and agencies
Last Updated: 4:06PM BST 13/05/2008

The Armed Forces are severely overstretched and unable to mount any further missions as a result of ongoing operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has warned.

The MoD also said that due to an unprecedented workload, the Army and Navy were struggling to meet designated staffing levels.

Under the Public Service Agreement (PSA), the MoD is supposed to be able to generate forces which can be "deployed, sustained and recovered at the scales of effort required to meet the Government's strategic objectives".

But the latest report from the MoD revealed that after almost a decade operating beyond capacity, this target could not be met.

One indicator of "peacetime readiness", the percentage of units that have no serious or critical weakness, is down from a target of 73 per cent to 58 per cent.

The Spring Performance Report said: "They (the armed forces) have been operating at or above the level of concurrent operations they are resourced and structured to deliver for seven of the last eight years, and for every year since 2002."

"In such circumstances, the armed forces cannot simultaneously be ready for the full range of contingent operations provided for in planning assumptions."

Shadow defence secretary Liam Fox said that the report amounted to an admission by the Government that the forces were overstretched.

"The Government must stop asking our armed forces and their families to do more and more without providing them with the manpower and resources needed to get the job done," he said.

Liberal Democrat defence spokesman Nick Harvey said the "damning" report indicated that Gordon Brown doesn't care about the military.

"Things cannot go on like this. The Government must urgently begin a strategic defence review to better align capabilities and funding."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1952413 ... ns%27.html