Royal Navy cuts will see 1,100 jobs slashed

First round of job losses will make 400 sailors redundant

Sailors are waiting to learn who will be the first of 400 to
be made redundant in the first wave of compulsory redundancies to be made by
the Royal Navy on Friday.

The Navy will cut 1,100 jobs by March next year. It’s part of the Ministry of Defence’s wider efforts to slash numbers by 5,000 before 2015.

“The decisions we are making are not easy but they will help to defend the UK, protect our interests overseas and enable us to work effectively with allies and partners to deliver greater security and stability in the wider world,” an MoD spokeswoman told the BBC.

Navy personnel not on or preparing for deployment are eligible for redundancy. This includes the sailors and ships that played a key role in Libya earlier this year. Crew from eight of the 10 warships that took part in the campaign are in line to be made redundant.

The news has raised concerns about morale in the forces, with almost 60% of officers in the Royal Navy complaining of poor morale following a year of pay freezes, cuts and redundancies.

“This will go down very badly with the crews who already feel let down by the defence cuts,” said Vice Admiral Sir Jeremy Blackham, a former Vice Chief of the Defence Staff.

“We have a Secretary of State who on the one hand says the
world is getting more dangerous than it’s ever been and on the other hand is
determined to run the forces down willy-nilly.”