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Defence in the United Kingdom

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for clarifying that. One can imagine a tight-knit unit with a medic on a large salary and someone on a much smaller salary. Men and women are aware of what is going on and there is a slight resentment among regulars who are not on the same remuneration package. The Minister said that one cannot tell the difference in the field between regular servicemen and members of the TA. The men on the ground know the difference—there may not be a difference in performance, but they know who is a regular and who is a member of the TA. The Ministry must make up its mind about what it expects from the TA, because it may find that it simply cannot attract personnel in sufficient numbers to give the required commitment in future. I want to stress the importance of maintaining the existing network of TA centres. If there are fewer in future and they are located in the larger conurbations, that will inevitably result in fewer recruits. The Ministry and the defence chiefs are sailing close to the wind and must realise that simply throwing money at recruitment is not producing the right results. Although I welcome the announcement of the improved package of measures for the reserve forces—we are waiting to hear exactly what they are—the result of current policy is putting the future of the reserve defence forces of the United Kingdom in jeopardy.