CONTROVERSIAL changes to restructure the army — including the axing of Bury-based 2nd battalion, the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers — have been slammed by a watchdog.

The Army 2020 plans, to replace 20,000 regular soldiers with 30,000 reservists, will leave the Army under-manned, will create gaps in capability, and will affect morale, according to the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee.

The report revealed that the plans to train 30,000 reservists by 2019 are behind schedule, and that there are currently only 19,000 reservists.

However, the Ministry of Defence insist that their targets will be met.

Fusiliers in Bury expressed dismay on hearing the committee’s findings, and said they believed their protests had been proved right.

Former members of the regiment had formed an ‘Honour Guard’, and paraded outside the gates of 10 Downing Street every week to coincide with the weekly meeting of the Cabinet since February last year, before calling off their protest in May after the plans became law.

Dennis Laverick, who served with the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (2RRF), and runs the Fusiliers Association website, said: “It is exactly what we have said all along: it will not work. Getting rid of the regulars will not work.

“They wouldn’t listen to us, and they wouldn’t give us the answers we were asking for, but they have been found out.This country is now at risk, especially with what is happening all over the world, as well as here.”

The committee, which is made up of a cross-party group of MPs, said that the MoD had not properly consulted with the Army before making their decision to cut the number of regular soldiers, and that the MoD had also not tested how feasible the plans were.

It also revealed that a planned savings target of £20bn by 2021/22 was at risk, and that the scheme does not provide value for money.

The MoD said the plans to increase the number of reservists were “robust and viable”, and had been developed with a number of stakeholders.

Michael Fallon, defence secretary, said: “The Chief of the General Staff and I are confident that we will reach our target of 30,000 trained Army reservists by 2018/19.

“Indeed, we have arrested the many years of decline and neglect that has plagued our reserve forces and now we need to build on that.

“Our Army 2020 plans are on track and will deliver by 2020 the Army we need to counter the wide range of threats we face.”