Revealed: Armed forces have shrunk by 2,000 since Labour Government elected

EMBARGO: Immediate Release

Analysis by the Liberal Democrats has revealed that the Armed Forces have lost over 2,000 personnel since the Labour government was elected last July - despite the party promising to restore the Army to a "fit to fight" state in their election manifesto. 

Figures analysed by the Liberal Democrats show that full-time trained Armed Forces personnel have dropped by 2,181 since July 2024.

The Conservatives cut troop numbers by 10,000 when they were in government, reducing the size of the UK Army to its smallest since the Napoleonic era. Including this figure, the UK Armed Forces have shrunk by 14,350 since the start of the Ukraine war.

With the Prime Minister refusing to say when the size of the armed forces will increase, the Lib Dems are demanding the Government "walk the walk" when it comes to restoring army ranks.

Helen Maguire MP, Liberal Democrat Defence Spokesperson and army veteran, said:

“This Government has sat on its hands rather than acting to undo the Conservatives' reckless cuts to our armed forces.

“Since their fine words at the election on making the Army fit to fight again, we've seen a drop of over 2,000 armed forces personnel. It's time for Labour to walk the walk and make good on their promises.

“We're calling for emergency measures to reverse the shameful Army troop cuts - introduced by the previous Conservative government - so we can restore our armed forces.”

ENDS

Notes to Editor:

Figures are drawn from Government statistics. Please see table 1 and table 3c for the post-Ukraine figure and post-GE figure respectively (relevant cells highlighted in each case): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QuvbehAtwjXSLOGHl-N9mMEyIEe_zdlxJlCHGMkwaT4/edit?gid=954329148#gid=954329148