MoD dismisses wounded soldiers redundancy plan

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond (L) with British soldiers commemorating Armistice Day at Camp Bastion The job cuts leak was labelled as "deeply embarrassing"
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A leaked memo suggesting injured soldiers could lose their jobs has been dismissed by the Ministry of Defence.

The document, seen by the Daily Telegraph, suggests 2,500 wounded personnel could go as part of 16,500 Army job losses - up from 12,000.

But an MoD spokesman said: "Beyond those already announced, there are no further Army reductions planned."

Labour leader Ed Miliband said it was the government's duty to "do right by our armed forces".

The document is thought to have been written by an army captain and distributed to commanders in Afghanistan.

Some 7,000 army troops will be laid off as part of the first tranche of redundancies, which has already begun.

The Army announced in September it would be telling about 920 people they would be made redundant as part of the cuts.
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Defence job cuts by 2015

* 12,000 Army
* 5,000 Navy
* 5,000 Royal Air Force
* 32,000 civilian staff

* Armed Forces cuts at-a-glance
* Ex-MoD chiefs 'share cuts blame'

Earlier reports had suggested that the second tranche would add 5,000 to that number by April 2015, but the new memo puts the figure much higher.

Sources close to Defence Secretary Philip Hammond have told the BBC that the suggestion of any additional Army redundancies was "incorrect".

A Ministry of Defence statement said: "The Army is still considering the criteria including size and shape for Tranche 2 and any subsequent redundancy, and nothing has yet been agreed."

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