Colonel Richard Kemp has described as "bizarre" the fact that the army are on standby to provide an additional 3,500 troops to help with security at the 2012 London Olympics. This comes amid fears that private contractor G4S may not have enough trained staff.

Speaking to the BBC's Today programme, the former Commander of British Forces in Afghanistan, said that many of the soldiers on standby will have just returned from tour in Afghanistan and will be ready to go on leave with their families, so "this will hit them very hard indeed".

He told John Humphrys that the wider morale in the army "is very fragile" due to the recent announcement of redundancies, and he believes "this will simply add to that fragility.".

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