Labour MP for Wolverhampton North East, Emma Reynolds, has called on the Ministry of Defence to rethink the Government’s proposal to disband The Royal Mercian and Lancastrian regiment.The regiment of the Territorial Army, which has bases in a number of locations across the West Midlands, is set to be disbanded in a major Government shake up of reserve forces.

In a letter written to the Secretary of State for Defence, Philip Hammond MP, Emma Reynolds asked the Government to explain the rationale for the disbandment and called on the Government to reconsider its decision.

Speaking today, Emma Reynolds called the Government’s decision ‘absurd’ and warned the region would be losing an important part of our cultural identity.

She said:

“At a time when the Government is trying to recruit a greater number of reserve forces, to disband a historic and highly successful regiment such as the Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry is absurd.

There has recently been an extremely successful recruitment campaign for the regiment and it has continued to go from strength to strength in recent years.  People in the West Midlands are rightly proud of the regiment and its achievements and it forms an important part of our cultural identity. 

This is why I have written to the Defence Secretary and asked him to reconsider the Government’s decision.”

 May 2013