§ Mr. Moonmanasked the Secretary of State for Defence how the announced reductions in the strength of the Brigade of Gurkhas will be achieved.
§ Mr. Robert C. BrownWe decided in the Defence Review that the Brigade of Gurkhas would be retained, serving mainly in Hong Kong, but that its strength would be reduced by 1,000 as part of the manpower economies in the Army as a whole. I can now inform the House that we plan to achieve this reduction by an amalgamation in the course of 1978 of the two battalions of 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles—the Sirmoor Rifles.
Personnel made surplus by the amalgamation will be dispersed to other units, thereby enabling redundancies to be kept down to about 450 and to be spread among the brigade as a whole. Fair terms will be drawn up for those made redundant, and satisfactory career opportunities will be available for those who continue to serve. The loss of a battalion from the brigade's order of battle is a sad decision but inevitable if the economies decided on in the Defence Review are to be achieved. The Government of Nepal have been informed of this decision and been given assurances that the Brigade of Gurkhas will continue to be held in high regard as an integral and distinguished part of the British Army.