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More money should be invested in the Armed Forces to ensure a well-trained and well-motivated force, Army head General Sir Richard Dannatt has said.

In an unusual move for a serving Army chief, he told the Sun troops should get above inflation pay rises and that more should be spent on their welfare.

He also called for a debate on what proportion of national wealth should be spent on defence.

The MoD said troops got other forms of remuneration such as tax relief.


Servicemen go on operations knowing they are putting their lives on the line - it is very hard to put a price on that
General Sir Richard Dannatt

While in Afghanistan to visit troops, the Chief of the General Staff said: "You look to see how much a traffic warden is paid and compare that against what a private soldier gets paid.

"To make sure that we have armed services - in my case an army - populated by motivated and well-trained people, we have got to look after their individual needs well enough.

"Servicemen go on operations knowing they are putting their lives on the line. It is very hard to put a price on that."

However, Sir Richard went on to say the Army found other ways of rewarding soldiers for the risks they take, such as through medals recognising "gallantry" and "meritorious service".

He said servicemen's pay should increase above the rate of inflation for the next two years, and continue to rise if the level of deployment continued.

'Operational allowance'

He said it was a democratic issue for the country to decide how much to spend on the armed forces, but that it was also "perfectly legitimate" to have a debate on the issue and challenged politicians to "set their priorities out".

The Ministry of Defence said pay was only one element of a soldiers' salary, which includes allowances for housing, food, tax relief and schooling.

An MoD spokesman said: "In February we announced a pay rise of 2.6% for all Servicemen and women, which builds upon last year's award of over 9% for the most junior ranks.

"A private on their first operation will receive a minimum of £16,227, plus a 2,320 tax-free operational allowance."