MPs Turn Their Fire On 'Grotesque' Defence Cuts

The Commons defence committee questioned whether the terms on offer were "fair or appropriate" and dismissed Ministry of Defence explanations of the "shocking" difference.

Insufficient attention had been given to retraining soldiers, sailors and airmen for roles the military faced shortages in, it suggested.

Around two in five of 2,860 servicemen and women laid off late last year in the first phase of a huge reduction in manning levels were made compulsorily redundant.

In order to avoid distorting the structure of the armed forces, making them too top-heavy in the future, they need to go on recruiting people at the bottom even while they're thinning out the numbers further up the ranks.

Philip Hammond explains why the armed forces is still recruiting

In contrast, the first two tranches of redundancies in civilian staff - set to total 15,000 over several years - were all done on a voluntary basis, the committee heard.

The MoD's senior civil servant, permanent secretary Ursula Brennan, said that was partly because civil servants were more "flexible" while the armed forces tended to have "specific trades".

Defence minister Andrew Robathan pointed out in the Commons that the armed forces had been "less forthcoming" with applications for voluntary redundancy than civilian staff.

Both were condemned by the committee as inadequate explanations.

"The argument that civilians are flexibly employable whereas the military are not runs contrary to our experience of the breadth of the military training we have witnessed on operations," it said.

"The MoD should set out what opportunities and encouragement it gives to those in the armed forces who face compulsory redundancy to retrain, especially into 'pinch point' trades.

"For military redundancies to be compulsory in 40% of cases, yet for civilian redundancies to be compulsory in none, is so grotesque that it requires an exceptionally persuasive reason.

"We are not persuaded by either of the two reasons we have been given."

A second tranche of military redundancies were announced this month under the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) intended to help plug the £38bn black hole in the defence budget.

Up to 2,900 members of the Army, 1,000 members of the Royal Air Force and 300 members of the Royal Navy, including military top brass, were told they were losing their jobs.

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said: "The select committee's report is simply wrong in what it says on military redundancies.

"Every opportunity is being given for military personnel to retrain either for alternative roles in the Armed Forces or in civilian life, but the simple fact is we have to tackle the massive deficit we inherited from Labour and the huge black hole in the defence budget."

He told Sky News the redundancies were "regrettable" but he did not believe they deserved the term "grotesquely unfair".

Asked why there continue to be recruitment adverts, Mr Hammond admitted it was "counter-intuitive".

But it is vital the armed forces continue to get more staff into the junior ranks even while they "thin out" the number of jobs at the top, he said.

JLS tee up plenty of clubbing: The boyband have put their days of pulling women in clubs behind them in favour of the golf course

The band have put their days of pulling women in London's West End clubs behind them in favour of the golf course.

They've become hooked on the sport and are determined to get a single figure handicap this year.

JB said: "We've taken up golf as a hobby and we're really getting on it.

"We are all kind of a similar standard, except for Oritse who hasn't picked it up yet.

"Aston probably has the best drive, Marvin has the best short game and my 'inbetween' shots are quite good.

"But the game takes time so when we get better we'll get a handicap and all that sort of stuff."

It's quite surprising JB is giving golf a bash given the footie and rugby stinkers he had when he was young.

He said: "I used to play rugby when I was at school and I lost in the final of a tournament to a side we had beaten in the normal season.

"I threw the second-place medal on the floor, I was really bad.

"And I used to play football in scouts. I was in goal and in a final there were sudden-death penalties.

"The ball went underneath my body into the goal. I don't know what got into me but I burst out crying."

There might be tears at the Bizarre Masters later this year when the boys battle it out for celebrity golf glory.

The stakes are high ? they are the only band in the country who would actually wear the McMatalan Tartan winners' blazers on a night out.