First, the graphic is recycled from a BBC story from 2013
BBC News - Top general warns over 'hollowed-out' armed forces
And then recycled here:
BBC News - Military cuts mean 'no US partnership', Robert Gates warns Britain
So the error is not new.
Second, bar the line 'Source:MOD' is there any clear evidence that the MoD has issued duff info? Fact Sheets 5 and 8 which supported the SDSR do not give these figures, and are the most obvious source for the press. The latest
latest MoD stats show that the RAF has 32,000 personnel.
So far, then, the balance of probability, therefore suggests that despite significant amounts of official evidence and source material from the MoD, the BBC graphic of which The B Word complains is at best based upon research conducted about 14 months ago (the first BBC story) and which paid little, if any, attention to the
November 2013 stats which clearly give the 31,000 figure.
The key points then are:
1. The BBC is using an outdated graphic
2. There is no obvious evidence that the MoD has put duff figures out; the attribution at the foot of the graphic is meaningless, since it is a BBC-produced graphic (mis)employing data from MoD sources; it is not an MoD graphic reproduced by the BBC.
3. There is an array of regularly updated data about the figures, plus a baseline of the SDSR and the supporting factsheets and references to the results of the 3 Month exercise to suggest that the available evidence points to it being the that BBC has dropped the ball here, rather than MoD. Even if the MoD has issued one incorrect source (not the graphic), the BBC has relied upon that and not cross checked, even if only to ensure that the graphic remains accurate (which it never was).