News Search Search this site or the web powered by FreeFind Site search Web search Story archive		15-01-2005 Scotsman General wants change of heart over infantry cuts By Gethin Chamberlain Defence Correspondent ONE of the army's most senior generals has broken ranks to reveal that he and other officers want a change of heart over cuts to Britain's infantry regiments - and to warn that the names of the Scottish regiments may be allowed to fade into history. General Alistair Irwin, the adjutant general of the army and colonel of the Black Watch, said there was not a single member of his regiment who would have supported cuts and amalgamations. His comments, in a message to all members of the Black Watch, came as it emerged that two more Scottish regiments have been pencilled in to go to Iraq. The Highlanders have now completed their armoured infantry training and are listed by the army as "valid" for an armoured role in the country, while the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders - who have recently become part of the 16 Air Assault Brigade - are now "valid" for an air mobile role. Until now the army has maintained a united front, insisting the cuts and amalgamations are not just necessary but desirable to create a more efficient and responsive force for the 21st century. But General Irwin's comments reveal the depth of the divisions among senior officers over the changes. As colonel of the Black Watch, he was a member of the council of Scottish colonels which recommended the amalgamation of the Royal Scots and the Kings Own Scottish Borderers - who will now become the Royal Scots and Borderers (1st battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland) - and he was also a member of the army board which approved a reduction of four infantry regiments from the army as a whole. But in his letter, he wrote: "I want to be quite clear that there is not a single one of us, serving, retired or related, in the whole regimental family who would have wanted us to face cuts and amalgamations, or would not have wanted to contemplate happily more years of the regiment as we now know it... there is no doubt that everyone would very much prefer that the cuts and the reorganisation were not happening." General Irwin revealed that he was personally in favour of reversing the cuts, despite the insistence of the government that they had been imposed for operational and not financial reasons. However, he added that he did not think a reprieve was likely. The Scotsman led opposition to the cuts, and the general revealed the campaigns and strength of feeling helped to stave off more drastic action.
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