The Observer reports that the Gurkhas could be disbanded as a result of government in-fighting over defence spending.
Political insistence that the full £20bn cost of replacing Trident falls on Ministry of Defence budgets means that the Brigade of Gurkhas, which has been part of the British army for nearly 200 years, could among the ground forces scrapped unless more cash is made available.
Tory defence secretary Liam Fox is one of several ministers involved in brinkmanship games with the Treasury. According to Whitehall watchers, his game plan is to meet austerity targets by either slashing regiments or dumping, i.e. drastically reducing, Britain’s sea-borne nuclear deterrent.
The paper reports that the increasing costs of running the Gurkhas – whose rights were championed in a high-profile campaign by actress Joanna Lumley – now makes them a prime target for spending cuts.
Pundits predict that Clegg and Lib Dem ministers in the government will want to underline their role as policy moderators and opt for cutting Trident. They will also be influenced by defence chiefs making similar noises about the relevance or need for a nuclear replacement.
It would certainly be a popular announcement from the conference platform and a much needed deflection of activist dissent over what is seen as the leadership's disastrous handling of social policy.
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