a strong military force is essential for the defence of the islands and our overseas territories.kings

As the Royal Marines & their Amphibious capability,along with the fact that they are the highest trained troops in the world,has seen them at the forefront of any conflict our nation has been involved in. To even contemplate a reduction in their numbers would seem absurd,no doubt the same people who thought having the largest Carriers in Royal Naval history without any planes to fly from them came up with yet another marvelous idea. My eldest brother served 35 years in the Royal Navy & is of the opinion that our forces are in a deplorable state. Like most Government decisions the main consideration is now always the cost & not what is needed. I know that the cost of the Carriers & aircraft to equip them,if ever they materialise,has escalated beyond belief so perhaps important lessons should be learnt from ill informed desion making. Finally, are we at the point where we accept that Britannia no longer rules the waves & model our defence policys along the lines of Sweden or Switzerland & worry about ourselves & not the rest of the World.

The defence cuts of the Conservatives firstly with John Major in 1990-1997 then with Cameron in 2010-2015 by themselves took our defence capability to well below critical mass. Defence cuts once made are never made good unless war us imminent and right now if one analyses the emerging threats from Russia and China as well as terrorism ans ISIS mean that without the firepower of the USA Europe is vulnerable. The American support can no longer be guaranteed and if we want to make cuts we should do as Israel does. Their armed forces are actually larger than those of the UK yet they are administered by circa 500 staff whereas the Ministry of Defence has many thousands of clerks. The Royal Marines in which I served are extremely well trained and motivated soldiers who can be rapidly deployed to a potential war zone and stabilise the situation as well as guarding oil fields and so on here at home. The defence cuts are a national disgrace and make it certain that we need the USA defence umbrella to guarantee our freedom

Further cuts to the armed forces are disgraceful. In its current state our armed forces would be no where near capable to deal with a legitimate military threat to the United Kingdom, let alone if it were cut further. These cuts not only destroy the armed forces, but also the defence industry, increasing our dependence on foreign countries. The past has proven that we are more than capable of producing innovative designs that change warfare, but if these cuts continue we will cease to be a competitive supplier but instead become a customer to the increasingly expensive defence industries of other nations. We are however currently on a knifes edge, and a decision such as scrapping albion and bulwark and reducing the number of marines will shape the future to come.

This government never ceases to amaze me...some of the elitist troops in the world and you want to scrap them at a time when the UK has never been at such a high threat of terrorism. The Royal Marines are a credit to our armed forces and should be encouraged and supported not scrapped. #Royalmarines

Cut the foreign aid and save our amphibious capability. These ships are needed not just for military use but also humanitarian needs. Conservative party used to be the defender of the UK not anymore.

The Royal Marines are essential to the sucurity of the OK so no to cuts

There should be no reduction of the UK,s defence capability quite the opposite we should be increasing our military capability .Given that the world is a more unstable and hostile place if we don,t have the conventional forces does this lower the threshold for the use of Trident.If we can even consider paying a Brexit bill then surly this government can put the forces in place to defend our country .The Royal Marines and the amphibious forces are essential for force projection and a world wide reaction force remember without the amphibious forces Britain would never have retaken the Falkland islands I urge you to reconsider this rash decision

Its crazy. Fearless was sent to the Falklands and Intrepid which was already being mothballed had to be reactivated. Where is the sense. Plus selling ships to foreign countries when they are still useful to us is illogical especially when they still use them for 10 to 20 years after we would have scrapped them. At the moment the Indian Navy has more ships than us and we are giving them money all the time to build it up. Maybe the money was not for that but they have launched a new Carrier and it probably has planes on it.

My brother and two cousins have served in the Corps. I am extremely proud of this family connection to the finest fighting force in the world. To contemplate reducing its size still further is utter madness. The times in which we live are still uncertain. To have a fighting force of this quality gives us Brits a little peace of mind both from the point of view of defending our own interests as well as being able to assist in far flung corners of the world. Don’t let that be taken away or reduced.