According to Forces News' report of the Armed Forces Bill debate in the Lords on Wednesday evening, the Government is being warned by armed services chiefs that the armed forces could be "on the brink" because of planned reforms and “morally indefensible" redundancies:

Based on replies by Dr Fox in today's Commons Defence Questions, BBC News says that the decision on RAF Lossiemouth and RAF Leuchars is expected soon:

News of the future of RAF Lossiemouth in Moray and RAF Leuchars in Fife could be imminent, Defence Secretary Liam Fox has hinted.

Mr Fox said a number of decisions on the future of threatened air bases - including the two in Scotland - had been taken.

Answering questions in the Commons, Mr Fox said he hoped "to make progress very shortly".

Campaigners have been trying to save the Lossiemouth and Leuchars bases.

The Scottish government has said Scotland has already suffered more than its fair share of military spending cuts.

The UK government decided to scrap the fleet of new Nimrod spy planes at Kinloss in Moray as part of the defence review

Scottish Secretary Michael Moore has also been gathering evidence on the possible effect of two base closures on the Moray economy.

North East Fife MP Sir Menzies Campbell said that the campaign for keeping RAF Leuchars was in the "home straight" but the race was still on "until we reach the tape".

He urged supporters to e-mail the prime minister directly to make their own case for the base's retention.

• BBC News source: RAF Lossiemouth and Leuchars news could be imminent

In a survey carried out by the Ministry of Defence after the 2005 General Election, 60% of  a random sample of service personnel said they were registered to vote and 13% did not know whether they were or not.

Of those who were NOT registered, 42% claimed they had not received a form. 25% were "not interested in voting", 23%"did not know how to register" and 15% intended to but did not get round to it.

It's the result of many hours of hard work and the grandest day in the Sandhurst calendar, as friends, family and VIPs gather to watch Officer Cadets take part in their final challenge - the 166th Sovereign's Parade. For the first time all of the cadets currently at Sandhurst were on parade including the junior division, with 242 passing out.  BritishForcesNews reports (12 Aug).

Following the 2005 General Election,  Silence in the Ranks identified "the UK's tight electoral timetable" as an important factor in the effective disenfranchisement of many members of the armed forces community, whether their postal votes failed to arrive in time or whether they did not even attempt to vote, out of lack of confdence in the system.

Feb 2008

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