[West Ender]

Blaming the Iraq war for the diminution of the armed forces is a bit of a red herring. The reason is that the MoD deliberately cut back on recruiting numbers and also made some personnel redundant in the 1990s. It was called rationalisation or, in other words, saving money. The fools who run this country really believed that it could all be done by half the staff. Now the lesson is being learned.

The same thing is happening in the Civil Service. The Government will boast that it is halving the number of Civil Servants and, thus, saving your money. The truth is that you are now getting an abysmal service because there aren't enough people left to do the job effectively.

The present global conflicts have shown up the fact that to retain an effective armed presence anywhere in the world you need soldiers/sailors/airmen. Don't blame the young people for failing to sign up, blame the Government for its disastrous and shortsighted policies.