Leavers 'could paralyse' forces

General morale within the services is claimed to be in decline

Britain's armed forces are facing declining morale and could be "paralysed" by mass resignations, a campaign group has warned.

A UK National Defence Association (UKNDA) report says the military is under-funded and overstretched.

It is calling for a 40% rise in the £33bn core military budget by 2011.

The Ministry of Defence said funding was rising at its highest rate in more than 30 years and a welfare support package had recently been announced.

According to the UKNDA, the government has allowed military spending to fall to its lowest level since the 1930s, at 2.3% of GDP compared with 5% in the 1980s.

It said the core defence budget has been modestly increased, but the "security landscape has drastically changed for the worse".

If only 50% of the half of all servicemen considering resignation were to quit, the armed services would be paralysed UKNDA report

A Ministry of Defence survey which suggested almost half of UK military personnel are ready to leave the forces was cited.

The UKNDA report said: "Seriously inadequate manning levels have caused tours of duty to be long and so frequently repeated that there is insufficient time for recuperation, family life and retraining.

"This has caused a major decline in general, as opposed to battlefield, morale so that pressure to resign in dangerously large numbers has resulted.

"If only 50% of the half of all servicemen considering resignation were to quit, the armed services would be paralysed. They could take a decade to recover, leaving Britain's defences severely weakened."

Key support

The report, Overcoming the Defence Crisis, urges the government to launch a comprehensive defence review and commit itself in principle to a spending increase.

It says the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats should offer bi-partisan support to such a rise.

Problems with top quality weapons and other operational equipment have now largely been fixed, it said.

But, according to the report, there remains a serious lack of battlefield helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles, effective operational radios and mine-proof land vehicles.

The Ministry of Defence said it was striving to provide the armed forces "with the rewards and the recognition that they deserve".

A spokesman added: "We achieve this not in isolation, but using the full range of resources available to us."

He said the defence budget was experiencing its longest period of sustained real growth for more than 30 years.

There was also additional Treasury funding for "urgent and cutting-edge equipment to theatre" and key welfare support in areas such as education and compensation, and access to healthcare and accommodation was outlined in the Service Personnel Command Paper.