Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart William Peach, GBE, KCB, ADC, DL said ......
On the BBC Alan Marr TV show; Sir Stuart Peach was asked if soldiers were paid enough - after a conversation focused on under-Manning below a 'critical' number of 80k.
On several occasions Marr repeated the specific question, quoting servicemen being limited to 1% pay rise whilst other government employees enjoy 2-3%. In response Sir Stuart stated that members of the U.K. Military do not hold salary as their primary focus for work. They instead serve to enjoy serving in uniform. This he 'heard' from the shop floor. He also devolved responsibility solely to the AFPRB.
You do not need to be a cynic to have seen many a (former) senior officer make an honest statement reflecting reality after he has conceded his uniform, and so such betrayal of our servicemen is in keeping with precedents all too frequently set.
..... and so Sir Stuart, as the cost of living gently spirals, and given the plateau to which service pay has adhered for many years now, do not be surprised at discontent within the UK military, or recruitment being problematic, because the worker bees do not get paid enough. The advisors to the Ivory Towers need to have a word with themselves. We understand that our Government is bankrupt, and that there is no further funding, but that does not excuse what you did today in public - an honest opinion costs nothing.