British Defence chiefs have drawn up plans to slash the army by a quarter and reduce the Royal Marines to a bit part as part of Boris Johnson’s defence and security review.
The drastic cuts, which would also close airfields and take helicopters out of service, were drawn up in response to Treasury demands that Whitehall departments map out cuts of 5% or more as part of the government’s comprehensive spending review.
In the worst-case scenario:
— Army manpower would fall from 74,000 to 55,000
— The Royal Marines commando brigade would be disbanded, losing its artillery, engineers and landing craft. Royal Navy minesweepers would also face the axe.
— The RAF would shut several airbases and shed its fleet of Hercules transport planes and small Puma helicopters.
But this time security sources say that Dominic Cummings, the prime minister’s senior aide, is attracted to the proposal to slash the size of the army and pump money into cyber-warfare, space and artificial intelligence.