Scottish army recruitment offices to be closed

THE government is to close 14 of Scotland’s 19 army recruitment offices in a move which has raised questions over its commitment to maintaining the size of the armed forces north of the Border.

A written answer to Welsh Labour MP Owen Smith has revealed that the Ministry of Defence plans to shut 83 of its 156 army recruitment offices in a bid to cut costs with Scotland losing the highest proportion with over 70 per cent of its offices closing down.

The MoD cuts mean that only five recruitment offices will remain in Edinburgh, Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee and Glasgow.

Meanwhile high street recruitment offices in Perth, Dunfermline, Dumfries, Kirkcaldy, Bathgate, Galashiels, Dumbarton, Hamilton, Irvine, Paisley, Stirling, Wick, Elgin and Greenock will close their doors by 26 March this year.

The only English region to see the same amount of closures will be the North West but it will see eight of its offices remain open.

The move follows concerns that the basing review which is expected in the next few weeks will confirm that plans to double the size of the army in Scotland, announced by former defence secretary Liam Fox in 2011, will be ditched.

Last month General Sir Peter Wall told the defence Select Committee that while the size of the army will grow in Scotland it is due to go up by 500 at most to around 3,800 well short of the 6,500 to 7,000 promised by Dr Fox.

Further cuts rumoured

Plans to build a new super barracks in Kirknewton near Edinburgh have also been abandoned according to sources but the MoD has denied rumours that RAF Leuchars, which is supposed to become the home of an army unit, could also close.

Stuart Crawford, former colonel in charge of the Black Watch, said that closing recruitment offices would be a blow to raising army numbers in Scotland.

He said: “If I was a conspiracy theorist I would say this was part of a plan to demilitarise Scotland ahead of the referendum, except I think the people at the MoD think Scotland will vote no to independence.”

He went on: “This is much more about saving money. But unfortunately removing high street recruitment offices will mean that it will become even harder to find Scottish recruits. The army was already struggling.