“Tstrunk please read:

Cameron is betraying the military covenant with this insulting pay rise for our soldiers

It's all very well David Cameron claiming he is the champion of the military covenant, but his words are meaningless if they are not translated into action. And the Government's decision to implement a pay deal for those serving in Her Majesty's Armed Forces which amounts to a real terms cut in pay does not seem to me to be in keeping with the spirit of the military covenant.

I know times are hard, and that everyone needs to tighten their belts if we are to get out of the economic mess bequeathed by Gordon Brown. But at a time when the British military is fully committed to combat operations in Afghanistan, and in a year when they have achieved a significant victory in Libya, there is an indisputable case for making an exception of the Armed Forces when it comes to pay.

At the very least the Government should allow the Armed forces Pay Review Body to make its recommendations before deciding to cap pay rises at one percent from 2013. It is not just the effect the non-existent pay rises will have on the morale of serving personel: at a time when all three Services are having to impose the most draconian redundancies in a generation, it is also likely to have an adverse impact on recruitment.

David Cameron is not shy about committing our soldiers, sailors and airmen to combat, and likes nothing more, when the opportunity arises, than to pose for action-man photoshoots with our boys serving on the front line in Afghanistan. But if he wants to have an effective military, then he has a moral obligation to find the money to fund it properly, and that means giving combat troops a living wage, and not expecting them to risk their lives for a salary that is considerably lower than the wages of a traffice warden.”