AS AN ex-serviceman I was appalled at the announcement made by the Defence Secretary regarding proposed cuts to our Armed Forces.

Although Mr Hoon made the announcement it is Gordon Brown who holds the purse strings.

People of my generation can well remember the weak state of our Armed Forces prior to the start of the Second World War and a similar position will again exist if these cuts go ahead.

The Royal Navy once ruled the waves but now it has been reduced to a handful of ships unable to put to sea at the same time as a result of the lack of trained personnel.

Some while ago we were promised two new aircraft carriers but now we learn that construction work has not yet commenced.

The Army is so stretched that time spent at home between overseas tours is becoming less and less.

The TA formed as a back up in time of war is ever increasingly being used as a back up for our depleted forces in the Middle East.

The Royal Air Force is threatened with the closure of more and more stations, our own RAF Lyneham being one of them.

If Argentina decided again to occupy the Falkland Islands or Spain annexed Gibraltar we could do little or nothing about it. Again, shades of 1939.

This is a time when we should see an increase in our Armed Forces and not cuts. Messrs Brown and Hoon should realise that defence economy is false economy and we shall pay for it in the not so distant future.

R W SELWAY

Stratton