Military redundancies 'long planned for'

Some 1,500 personnel are to lose their jobs in the armed forces' fourth and final round of redundancies as part of defence cuts announced in 2010.

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said on Thursday that 1,425 will come from the Army, 70 from the RAF and 10 from the Royal Navy.

Speaking to the BBC, Maj Gen David Cullen, Assistant Chief for the General Staff, defended the cuts, saying that the redundancies had "long been planned for".

"We have got to do this to right size and right skill-set the army for the future" he added.