Civilians in the MOD get paid less than service people rank for rank
...but they don't spend much of their working day covered in sand, getting shot at either.
Its not we voters who send the armed forces out to fight without proper equipment and resources. Its the government that does that, and the MOD are the civil service department that is supposed to advise the Minister and manage the budget. As long as the ministry, as represented by their spokesmen, continue to subscribe to the lie that everything is fine, the armed forces will suffer shortages.