Labour has called for the government to devise “a proper defence strategy” and criticised “a decade of decline” after a leaked Ministry of Defence report said the army is running low on battle-ready soldiers. The Daily Mail reported the Ministry of Defence’s “Infantry Battalion Soldier Strength Summary – January 2021” showed the prestigious Scots Guards, which has a working requirement of 603 troops, had just 339 soldiers available for operations. Col Richard Kemp, a retired British army officer, blamed the manpower crisis on poor pay, inadequate living conditions, and the outsourcing of recruitment to Capita. “Outsourcing recruiting to Capita was a disastrous decision, potential recruits faced months of unnecessary delays and struggled to meet a real soldier in the process,” he told the Mail. “This contributed significantly to the current manning crisis. On top of that soldiers signed off in droves due to poor pay and appalling living conditions. While recently the army has taken major steps to resolve undermanning, the damage of the previous decade is so serious they face an uphill struggle.” The shadow defence secretary, John Healey, said the report “raises the alarm on the readiness of our military” and warned that the UK was vulnerable to exploitation – although it is not thought the country faces an invasion threat. “After a decade of decline our forces are over 10,000 below the strength ministers said are needed, with combat personnel indispensable for our defence and our commitment to NATO,” he said. “Britain can’t afford any more reckless cuts to our forces, so ministers must put personnel at the heart of their delayed defence review. Our adversaries will exploit continuing holes in our capability. The UK needs a proper defence strategy without further delay.” The UK military has base sites in Singapore, Brunei, Australia, Nepal and Afghanistan. It also has a military presence in seven Arab monarchies, including major deployments in Saudi Arabia and Oman. Troops are also in seven African countries, as well as a number of countries across Europe – some as part of NATO. Tobias Ellwood, a former defence minister who chairs the Commons defence committee, told the Mail: “Britain’s role on the world stage is at stake and our relationship with the US. Cutting our forces at the very moment president Biden is regrouping the western resolve to counter growing threats will compromise our ability to step forward as a valued and trusted ally.” An army spokeswoman said the force had achieved its target for infantry recruits in 2020 and continued to actively recruit. “We are confident the army has the numbers and talent required to protect the United Kingdom,” she said. “The Integrated Review is not yet complete and any reporting about army force structure is merely speculation.” The Integrated Review was billed by the government as the deepest and most radical re-evaluation of the UK’s place in the world since the cold war ended. Its findings were due last autumn but were delayed due to the pandemic, with Boris Johnson saying recently it was unlikely to be published this month. In November, the government set out a £16.5bn increase in defence spending over four years. In 2019, the Guardian revealed that the British army faced a recruitment crisis, with frontline combat units operating as much as 40% below strength after a steady decline in the number of soldiers in infantry regiments. A spokesperson for Capita said: “As has been widely acknowledged, the army recruitment contract has been completely turned around following a re-set in 2018. Over the past two years, targets have been consistently hit and the proportion of candidates getting through the process greatly increased. “Even through a pandemic, we are hitting targets. We have recruited thousands of excellent candidates for the army, supporting them to meet fitness targets and helping them achieve their dreams of learning skilled trades.”