THE UK Government has been accused of "running down" Britain’s military after figures showed a decrease in trained personnel across the services – for the ninth year running.
Labour’s Nia Griffith, the Shadow Defence Secretary, said the Johnson Government was either in "complete denial" about the recruitment and retention "crisis" or they were "actively in favour of cutting" the armed forces.
But the Ministry of Defence stressed the armed forces continued to meet all their operational requirements.
The latest official data showed the full-time trade trained strength of the Army was 74,440 as of July 1, compared to the workforce requirement of 82,000 - a deficit of 9.2 per cent. In July 2018, the figure was 76,880.
The RAF total stood at 29,930 of the required 31,840, a decrease from July 2018's total of 30,280.
The Royal Navy and Royal Marines decreased to 29,090 of the required 30,600, a decrease from 29,150 recorded 12 months earlier.
The report noted: "The current deficit against the workforce requirement is 7.6 per cent for the UK armed forces."
The data also showed 13,520 people joined the trained and untrained UK regular armed forces in the last 12 months, an increase of 1,593 compared to the previous 12-month period. However, 14,880 people left; an increase from 14,860 in 2018.
Increases in the trained strength of the reserve forces for each service were recorded, including the Army increasing by 210 to 27,000 in the 12-month period up to July 1 against an April 2019 target of 30,100.
For the Army, the Government has been working to boost a shrunken regular force of 82,000 with an increased reserve force of 30,000.
However, concerns over the use of private firm Capita in recruitment and wider efforts to retain personnel have been repeatedly raised by MPs.
Ms Griffith, responding to the latest statistics, said: "It is clear that the Conservatives just cannot be trusted with our country's defences.
"Year after year they are running down our armed forces with numbers now well below their own targets.
"Ministers are either in complete denial about this crisis in recruitment and retention or they are actively in favour of cutting the armed forces to these historically low levels. The new Defence Secretary should come clean about which it is," she added.
An MoD spokesman said: "We have been working hard to improve our recruitment process and are already seeing results with regular soldier applications at a five-year high in 2018/19.
"March also saw the largest intake of recruits since 2012, although given the time it takes to train soldiers, it is too soon to see these results reflected as an upturn in trained strength.
"The army continues to meet all of its operational commitments to keep Britain safe and we are committed to working with Capita to address remaining challenges," he added.
At the beginning of the year, the Army raised eyebrows with its recruitment campaign, using on its posters stereotypical images of millennials such as "snowflake" and "selfie addicts".
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