Thousands more troops quit the army than joined last year amid complaints of squalid living conditions and low pay
Thousands of British troops are quitting amid soaring complaints of squalid living conditions and low pay.
More than 16,000 troops left last year while only 12,000 joined up – despite a £70 million Ministry of Defence outlay on recruitment campaigns in recent years.
More than 16,000 British troops left last year while only 12,000 joined up despite recruitment campaigns
There has been outcry over squalid conditions in military housing after The Mail on Sunday revealed how hundreds of personnel have been left without heating or hot water this winter
One Royal Navy chief petty officer living in a married quarter in Helston, Cornwall, said: ‘I can put up with a lot of hardship but it’s not fair on my wife and kids.’
Figures show that MoD maintenance contractors have been contacted about damp thousands of times in the past eight months.
Armed Forces personnel, who are not allowed to strike, will receive a 3.75 per cent pay rise – well below the rate of inflation.
Recruits are paid £16,500 and privates £21,400. An MOD spokesman said: ‘Armed Forces recruiting numbers are sufficient for Defence to meet its operational requirements.’