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Will forces morale recover in the wake of defence cuts?
This week the MoD's own figures revealed that 50 per cent of all service personnel reported low morale in the last year.
Morale had fallen noticeably since 2010, the year of the Strategic Defence and Security Review, and ministers have admitted that the last two years have been a 'difficult time' for defence.
Defence minister Peter Luff said he was confident that the "resilience" of forces personnel meant that morale would recover over the next two years. Can forces morale recover or will the years of changes and redundancies to come ensure it remains low?
Poll result:
Yes 36%
No 64%
HAVE YOUR SAY
How can it? All they see are cutbacks, lack of equipment and MP's demanding more of them as well.
They are normal people who decided they would like to serve their country, not superbeings, but their country in the way of politicians have let them down.
JC - UK
Morale will improve, but only when defence is actually treated seriously and is no longer a pawn to kicked around by the bean counters and inept politicians who seem to have forgotten what it supposed to be there for.
Ian R - Durham
Stuns me that people KEEP referring to the politicians and "Bean Counters". Yet without them, and indeed more so the bean counters who try to get more for nothing we would have no military.
My point is UK is tired of Military, the public does not want to pay for a huge military and does not see the dangers. Therefore the money could/should go to transport/infrastructure and NHS/Education.
That is frankly how it has been unfolding since 1944, when a realistation that we would win the war allowed us to cancel orders for certain equipments and start the run down of UK forces. Subsequently we have declined in power, with an emphasis on International cooperation.
Many of us see it differently, but we maybe have to make do with the scraps we get, and try to ensure spend (Which is not an insignificant sum) is on the right equipment.
Morale will improve if a true understanding of what the public want and expect from our forces is achieved.
Degradable - UK
Without a clear rationale, nothing will be acceptable to the rank-and-file. Officers that use the situation for personal gain will be viewed with particular disdain. It is happening here in Canada as well.
Ken Hansen - Halifax/Canada/Dalhousie Centre for Foreign Policy Studies
As long as defence cuts, in whatever format go on, the answer is NO, neither will current servicing and veteran's forget or for give the Coalition Ministers, or the conservatives and especialy the Lib Dem's, wait and see at the 2015 General Election, Labour will benefit from Armed Forces vote.
ExRA David MC.Hughes - Blackpool, UK, Gurkha Welfare Rights Specialist