Armed forces 'let down by public'

Low pay and poor accommodation for service personnel are the result of a breakdown in the "contract" between military and civilians, Demos argues.

Dr Timothy Edmunds, one of its authors, said: "Men and women who put their lives at risk are being overlooked."

But the Ministry of Defence insisted: "The well-being and the safety of our people are a top priority."

Public esteem

The report, titled Out of Step, argues that UK forces are overstretched and their purpose is unclear.

Recruitment and retention has been damaged by a lack of understanding of their mission in the eyes of the public, the Demos paper argues.

It concludes that too high a proportion of MoD resources are focused on military hardware at the expense of human resources, with pay, working conditions and accommodation for personnel all falling short.

"If you aren't serving in the armed forces, you won't feel like we are at war"
Dr Timothy Edmunds
University of Bristol

Defence spending has not kept pace with the needs of the three services, the report continues.

Starting salaries for military personnel compare badly with those for other public services, such as the police and fire brigade, it adds, while an estimated £5bn is needed over the next decade to bring the homes of service men and women up to standard.

Dr Edmunds, a politics lecturer at the University of Bristol, said that the forces remained high in the public esteem.

But he argued that the remoteness of the UK's present military deployments meant that civilians tended to prioritise other public services, such as health and education, when it came to listing their spending priorities.

He said: "If you aren't serving in the armed forces, you won't feel like we are at war.

"But if you are serving in Iraq or Afghanistan then you clearly will."

'Significant progress'

REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS

• Improve the public's understanding of the missions which service personnel undertake
• Organisational review of the MoD in light of a new national security strategy
• Repair the "Military Covenant" between forces, their families and the public
• Wider debate about the financial cost of overseas deployments and the benefits to UK security
• Give priority to the services' domestic duties - counter-terrorism, national disasters, protection of the UK
• Prioritise better pay, conditions and accommodation for military personnel above acquiring high-tech equipment

Popular sympathy for troops may not have been damaged by the unpopularity of the Iraq conflict, Dr Edmunds added.

But he said that this had affected recruitment and the willingness of parents to see their sons and daughters join the forces.

What was needed, he argued, was "a set of terms and conditions under which people will be prepared to put their lives on the line".

A spokesperson for the Royal British Legion said the charity welcomed the report's focus on "the importance of upholding the nation's Military Covenant with its service people, past and present, and their families".

An MoD spokesman admitted that there was more that could be done for its employees.

But he added: "We keep the support we provide to our personnel and their families under constant review.

"We have made significant progress recently, across a very broad range of issues including operational allowances, basic pay, medical treatment, equipment and force protection."

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