MP fears 1,200 posts could be lost in North Yorkshire

9:00am Saturday 28th January 2012

By Kate Liptrot

ABOUT 1,200 defence jobs could be cut in North Yorkshire with 70 in York being axed by 2015, an MP has claimed.

Attacking the planned defence cuts, York MP Hugh Bayley pressed ministers to release information about the number of Yorkshire service personnel made redundant since the general election in 2010 and the number expected to be cut by 2015.

Mr Bayley told the House of Commons debate that the cuts prompted serious fears about the UK’s future security.

In 2009 there were understood to be 13,310 regular military personnel in North Yorkshire and 880 in York, meaning that if the overall reduction in numbers of 8.5 or nine per cent was applied to York and North Yorkshire, this would result in almost 1,300 job losses.

Speaking after the debate, Mr Bayley said: “No one wants to see the county’s regiments and RAF stations cut in size or closing. Each and every military post that’s lost means a job lost and a loss of spending power providing jobs in York and the rest of the region.

“The Government has not made the case that the security risks Britain faces are getting less. This is not like the end of the Cold War and the Government has not made the case that the security risks are reducing.”

Mr Bayley told Parliament that despite asking for regional figures from Andrew Robathan, the Minister for defence personnel, he had not had a response before the debate.

Mr Robathan later revealed that the number of service personnel had already been reduced by 7,760 between May 2010 and December 2011, but Mr Bayley’s question seeking a regional breakdown has not been answered.

Earlier this month, The Press reported that a source had said that Catterick Garrison was likely to escape the worst of military job cuts as the Ministry of Defence confirmed that 4,200 posts would be shed across the armed forces to help plug a £38 billion budget hole.

While 400 Gurkha posts are also set to be controversially axed, it is not known how many members of the 246 Gurkha Signal Regiment, based at York’s Imphal Barracks, may be affected.

Speaking in Parliament about his concerns over the cuts, Mr Bayley warned that the US was becoming less committed to defence in Europe, and turning its attention to China and the Asia-Pacific region.

He cited the example of the Libya campaign – where 26 NATO member states in Europe voted for action but less than half were able to contribute assets to the campaign - as revealing “woeful shortcomings” in European defence capabilities.