But the government can afford 33 million per month in child benefits for polish kids that don't even live in the UK?

Really got your priorities straight haven't you labour!

Martin, London, ENGLAND

the government spend £64 billion on quangoes, no money ? . Send the quangoes to iraq, let the unelected gravey train earn their money. It's the fall of rome all over again.

ozzy, rotherham, england

im fed up of hearing the government moan about army pay, how much has it cost this country to invade iraq and keep our forces there ? that money should hav gone into paying our forces and making our hospitals CLEAN, i remember when you went into hospital to get well, not to die of some unknown bug .

alan hydon, nuneaton, great britian

Members of our forces are leaving en-mass, not because they are at war, but because they are at war without the proper equipment and protection. Now they are being further demoralised by a government that says it has no cash to pay them more. What does a story such as this do to recruitment?

RayB , Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

Colin Adams. I agree but think all the polititians should be sent as well and paid accordingly.

barbara, north east,

Soldiers food is free whilst on an active tour, but whilst in training ,or in barracks in the UK they must pay for it. Also the catering has now been contracted out [to companies seeking to make a profit] so now all servicemen feel that standards are noticably down [as are portion sizes] & costs up.

Jon, Swansea,

a solidier once said '' i'll fight for queen and country, but i will not die for a politician!'' it wont be long before we dont have any military force to speak of at this rate! health,police,education and the forces should come first! not looking after all the EU wasters!!!

mark, london,

The £500,000,000 wasted by the MOD's incompetence on the chinooks that can't fly, would have gone a long way to equiping and paying the army. If the pen pushers were brought to account over the incompetent way they manage procurement there would not be a financial crisis in funding the armed forces

eddie, bradford, england

the government can find money & housing for immigrants into this country...but as is norm..BRITAIN never backs there own !!!

pat, Tamworth, Staffordshire

The seperation allowance we get is calculated on days away (10 or more to count) Top level is equal to 21.9 years of 6 months on 6 months off ... totally unacheivable and then it is taxed! This years pay rise for a private is equal to £30 per month after tax. Ta ..not

Andy, Glasgow,

Mark frm St. Neots is wrong; all military staff contribute to their costs of living when at their home base. Further more traffic wardens do not dodge bullets or spend 6 months a time away from their families. £16,000 a year is a disgrace for some one willing to make that kind of sacrifice.

Mark Johnson, Nottingham, UK

There is - but it will have to come out of the budget for the inflated quango's and civil service, who are drowing us with paperwork and contributing nothing! That's before dipping into MP's salary increases and perk's.

DOUG SMITH, cheam, UK

Where did the govt find the £50bn so quickly to bail out Northern Rock, a monumental error by a handful of ambitious bankers? The votes of these bank customers are more important to the govt than the soldiers.

This govt risk our soldiers' lives to defend our country and debased our morals.

V Tan, London,

Mark, St Neots.

Ignorance speaks: Soldiers, as all members of the Armed Forces, when not engaged in active service, have to pay for accommodation, and food - they have all the same expenses as a traffic warden, just don't get the wages to pay for those expenses.

Ex soldier.

Joe , Alexandria, Scotland

WHat good is money if you are unable to spend it

mike, devon, UK

In the late 1970's there was an outcry when it was discovered that a London bus driver earned more than a RAF front line Phantom pilot. Guess who was in power then? Some things never change.

J Kane, Reading, UK

Here's an idea scrap MPs expenses and use it to fund an increase in pay for soldiers.

Stephen, St. Ives, England

well every one has the anwers put your x so they will never hold office again. you know they have not help us brits aslong as they have been in power . but can always give millions away to other countrys . even pay immigrants 3 granjd to go home and come back through the back door . thats brains.

chazza, coventry, england

Atkins, Salisbury. Yes, happy when you’re benevolent sad and worried when you endanger all our lives.

When our brave firemen were striking for better pay soldiers acted as strike-breakers it turned firemen against soldiers and soldiers against firemen.

Soldiers are the obedient tool of the government, we just pay the bill and deeply lament your actions.

John, Nottinghamshire , UK

The conditions under which our Armed Services serve is quite frankly appalling. Contrast with MP's expenses, obscene private sector bonus payments - it goes on and on ........

We don't know how lucky we are to have such dedicated Service Men and Women - time we woke up!

Jan D, Lancaster,

Phill in The Wirral is totally right. No-one serving in the armed forces should pay any form of tax and also anyone serving in the Fire Brigade & Ambulance crews, as well as all NHS medical personnel should be exempt from income tax too.

Andrew Bell, Sheffield, UK

Now it is official. If a member of the armed forces wants a mortgage etc, all they need to do is put on the form 'The PM recognises the contribution of the armed forces'. This should be enough to secure a mortgage for them.

Well done Gordon (Chocolate Teapot) Brown.

Dave Kinsley, derby, uk

John, Nottinghamshire. Are you happy when we're filling sandbags to shore up flood defences, protecting the helpless in Bosnia, standing in for the fire-fighters, prison officers, power station workers, binmen et al when they strike? We don't get a choice - They're YOUR powers that be!

Pte T Atkins, Salisbury, England

no money available yet MP's want a £23,000, tax free, expense allowence.

Mike, Gravesend, England

It would be good to pay the soldiers some more money. I know Gordy has wasted all our cash and is now skint, but would it be possible to borrow a few million or even tax something to pay for it.

g.pickles, Leeds,

Never mind about there isnt any money left for the soldiers payrise. Missionary mad Brown upped the money given to Africa by millions when he became PM. Brown found a large sum to fight a by election, MPs are wanting a large increase in salary far higher than the 2% everyone else to abide by.

PKenny, Bradford, West Yorkshire

I leftthe Army in 1989. At that time there were many soldiers in receipt of income based benefits as pay was so low. Obviously not much has changed. The armed forces are struggling to recruit and retain staff, so something needs to change.

David Leslie, Perth, Scotland

When are people going to realise that Britain is bankrupt? Over 17% of all taxation goes to keeping people sitting on their backsides doing nothing on benefits. Never mind no wage increases fasten your seat belts for big tax rises. Mustn't upset the benefit claimants. Full employment?...yeh right.

judy, liverpool,

That traffic warden get more money than our brave soldiers comes as no surprise at all. This country is a total mess when it comes to pay. My wife is a trained staff nurse. She gets less pay than a post man. Our military deserve a much better deal, not lip service from pathetic politicians.

Colin Adams, TELFORD, United Kingdom

Send traffic wardens to Iraq. Let them see if they really think they should have more money than our brave military.

Colin Adams, TELFORD, United Kingdom

All men and women in the armed forces should not pay any form of tax at all. No income tax, no fuel tax, no council tax, no stamp duty, etc, etc, nothing, nada, squat.
For the job they do they deserve special treatment and exemptions.
The Government wouldn't notice the drop.

Phill, The Wirral, England

QUOTE "Soldiers are housed and fed by the army, traffic wardens have to house and feed themselves.

Mark, St Neots, UK"

You make it sound like they get free food and accomodation.
They don't.

Making this comment:

"soldiers pay is equivalent to £32, 500"

Utter tripe.

Andy, Lincoln, UK

Mark from St Neots - are soliders not allowed families? Or are they meant to live on benefit when the breadwinner goes to war?

How about we simply put their pay up to what the police's arm-response units get? That would sound more fair.

Peter, London, UK

So the MOD has a poverty line which is below £200.00, how very Churchillian, here was me thinking that an enlightened Labour Party had ditched the concept of absolute poverty decades ago for the idea of relative poverty.

Kyphos, Llanelli, Wales

It's nice seeing this mush interest in the plight of the forces. It's about time something was done about it. All this quango loving government seem to be able to do is waste billions of pounds of taxpayers money on things I for one dont care about! More money for forces equipment and pay!LABOUR OUT

ben, hounslow,

Here's an idea: pay the traffic wardens less and give the money to the Forces.

JLL, New York,

Because our troops invaded Iraq we are now all in peril from terrorist attack. So, no patriotic hand on heart flag waving from me that Mercer would love to see. Troops don’t act on behalf of the nation they act on behalf of the powers that be, like Mercer.

I think Mercer is a man enthralled by War, heroes, medals, blood guts and glory rounded with a touch of madness.

John, Nottinghamshire , UK

The Treasury make me sick: "The Budgets fixed for 3 years!". Who runs this country, Parliament or the Treasury? But they could still find £24Bn instantly to keep Northern votes and £2.7Bn for the 10p Tax cock-up. Which fixed Budgets did they come from?

Bry Barnes, Somerset, Uk

Well,no money left in the kitty eh,i think the country will be watching with interest when the House of Commons announces MP's pay rises then we will see just how self serving this bunch of wasters are.
Immigrants,assylum seekers,third world handouts,unmarried mothers,the work shy,your monies safe.

Kenneth O'Boyle(22yrs soldier), Perth, UK

When the political survival of the Labour party is at stake re. the 10p tax row, suddenly they can magic up £2 billion+ from no where. When it comes to ensuring the armed forces get what they are due, the pot is empty. Labour have never cared about the army, as shown by below inflation funding.

Steve, Norwich, Norfolk

No Surprise really, the government have blown all the cash on social services and incapacity benefits, really pathetic.

john, london,

A military threat closer to home would see money pouring in from all directions for higher wages & better equipment.

gerry, merseyside, uk

Of course they can't.. they spend a lot of money bailing out banks and miscalculating speculators. No money for some, billions for others. This is Robin-Wood up-side-down: Tyhey steal from the poor to give to the rich...

Rui, Lisbon, Sherwood forest

More money for the soldiers, sailors and airmen is one thing but what all the services really need is more money for vital equipment. It will not be long before most of our equipment is obsolete!An entire decade of Labour underfunding the services has left gaping holes in our capabilities!Brown out!

Ben, Heston, UK

Comments regarding MPs and ministers are well put. I don't think any soldier has ever had the opportunity of "funneling" £400,000 pounds of expenses through his own company...

Gordon just spent £2.7 billion trying to say sorry to the population... I suppose the army don't deserve anything? Hmmm.

Andy Watt, slough, UK

Didn't Brown find £2.7 billion from nowhere when it looked likely he would loose a byelection.

Paul, Lincoln, England

I don't think Downing street will get a good share of OIL or Reconstruction work from IRAQ or AFGANISTAN. US counterparts will argue that their soldiers are suffering more so more share of fortunes for them. its horrible to see that no money for soldirers but MPs second home. which one is important

AC, London,

Soliders are fed and housed by the army, yet have the cost of that deducted from thier wages.

steve, penshaw,

you can bet that there is enough money for the mps payrise and it will be a lot more than 2 per cent.

brian rice, halifax, england

Mark, for your informaition, (as an ex Soldier) food and accommodationa are not free and are deducted from salary. I too think it is a disgrace that serving soldiers have to put up with doing the government's dirty work & are separated from their families for months on end,

Bill Fairweather, Retford,

Of course there is an army that Brown will pay well to do its bidding: those unemployed hiding out on Injury Benefit, the professional semi-parenting, and the extra million Civil Servants taken on since 1997 and located in key marginal constituencies... but then they are unskilled.

Jamal Akhbar, Edinburgh,

It has been clear, from the outset, that Bliar/Broon-ism prefers government/quango/local authority nonentity employment, at inflated salaries, to the support of the Armed Forces. Yet every morning we are confronted with the Bliar/Broon Broadcasting Corporation saturating us with some new iniative.

Michael, Bridgwater , UK

I don't recall the Treasury making a similar statement when MPs were calling for a 15% pay rise for themselves AND a £23,000 increase in salary a couple of weeks ago.

Did I miss something?

Sean, Surrey, UK

Also why is it always General Dannatt who has the bottle to speak out? It's about time the Air Marshals and Admirals joined him and presented a united front.The treasury likes to play the services off against each other making them compete for funding and that's not right.Speak up for everyones sake

Ben, London, UK

But was there not £2.7 billion to try and buy votes at the recent by-election. Which is said to be paid for by shelving plans for replacing clapped out equipment and ordnance.

GB has sold the UK into EU serfdom and is now trying to destroy the army. Is he worried about a military coup?

M. Cawdery, Portadown, Co. UK, EU.

Simple. We probably now have more traffic wardens than soldiers so reduce their wages and give it to the army.
I heard Brown say that "improvements" in health and education etc., were on there way for the army. What's the betting they would have his and Darling's grubby fingerprints all over them.

Scott, Edinburgh, Scotland

The major difference between a traffic warden and a soldier is that a soldier has few expenses. Soldiers are housed and fed by the army, traffic wardens have to house and feed themselves.

As most people spend (at least) 50% of their income on expenses a soldiers pay is equivalent to £32, 500

Mark, St Neots, UK

As an ex-soldier i find it disgraceful, that this Labour government has ensured that British servicemen and women continue to struggle and Gordon Brown still cannot find enough money to ensure their safety and financial security.
Yet he spends billions ensuring Labour is safe at home and well paid.

Nick, London, UK

Well what an absolute disgrace. No money in the pot indeed. And yet Gordon and the useless ones continue to live in the style to which they have always aspired.

Jack Tomas, Peterborough, Great Britain

Is it right that these guy's should put their life on the line for such a small pittence? when numerous MPs or SMPs sit around and do abosultely nothing but bleed the state. Take that back, these SMPs or MPs do find time for something that is to claim expenses, thus ensuring less for the troops!!!

John, Glasgow,

They won't get any more money. Same as they won't get decent equipment. Same as they won't stop having to fight wars that have no direct benefit to this country.

Our army is being abused so that the fat cats can have easy access to the oil in Iraq and the opium in Afghanistan.

Toby Johnson, Hastings,

They should quit the Army whilst in Iraq then come to England and claim Asylum. No need work or worry about money anymore.

mark, Leeds,

Well shucks, there ain't no money for anything, Gordon done spent it all!!

Paul Freeman, London, England