The army loses 4,000 troops while hundreds more civil servants are hired to push pens as the Ministry of Defence ‘Blob’ swells to 60,640 staff
- The Army is expected to fall to 73,000 soldiers by 2025, with 4,000 set to leave
- Meanwhile, the MoD has increased in a year by 740, or 1.2 per cent, to 60,640
Hundreds more civil servants are being hired to push pens at the Ministry of Defence – while vastly experienced soldiers are being pensioned off to save money.
Shock figures have exposed how ‘the Blob’ is getting bigger at Whitehall as the Army is shrinking to its smallest size since Napoleonic times.
The Army is expected to be cut to 73,000 soldiers by 2025, with 4,000 troops retired and not replaced in the next couple of years.
Meanwhile, the civilian strength of the Ministry of Defence has increased in a year by 740, or 1.2 per cent, to 60,640.
The Army’s current size of 77,000 is drastically smaller than it was previously. As recently as 2010, it had 102,000 full-time troops.
Numbers are expect to dwindle still further after 2025 and experts are expecting the Army to have around 60,000 soldiers by the end of the decade.
Hundreds more civil servants are being hired to push pens at the Ministry of Defence – while vastly experienced soldiers are being pensioned off to save money
Shock figures have exposed how ‘the Blob’ is getting bigger at Whitehall as the Army is shrinking to its smallest size since Napoleonic times. Pictured UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace
UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has insisted the Army can only maintain as many soldiers as it is able to train, equip and house to a high standard.
But the same common sense approach has seemingly not been adopted by the civil service.
The number of Ministry of Defence civil servants has risen from 57,500 in 2019 – more than 3,000 in four years.
Analyst Francis Tusa said: ‘That figure of 60,640 is coming alarmingly close to the combined strength of the Royal Navy, Royal Marines and Royal Air Force.
‘If the worst fears for the future come to pass, the figure could be about the same as the Army too.
It is true some jobs are better done by civilian staff, however, while the trend for the services is downwards, it seems bureaucracy is rising.
‘So much for the MoD’s pledge to reduce the numbers of civilians. The services are in a parlous state.’
The MoD did not respond to requests for comment last night.
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