The six-month training ban imposed on the Territorial Army to save £20million was partially lifted yesterday when the Government announced that the reserve troops could go to their drill hall for instruction after all — for one night a month.

The decision, which will cost the Ministry of Defence £2.5million, was branded “pathetic” by a former Inspector-General of the TA.

Retired Lieutenant-General Sir Hew Pike, who commanded the 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment in the Falklands conflict in 1982, said one night a month would do nothing to persuade TA soldiers to stay in the reserves. “It’s a just sop to try and appease the Government’s critics,” he told The Times.

General Pike, who was Inspector General of the TA from 1995 to 1997, said many Territorials did not even go to their drill halls for training because they were too far away. “It’s only a couple of hours of training anyway. What’s absolutely essential for the TA is weekend training to keep up their skills. There won’t be a TA in a couple of years at this rate,” General Pike said.

The MoD confirmed that there would be no weekend training for which TA soldiers would normally have received two days’ pay.

The freeze on all non-Afghanistan training to save £20million from the TA’s budget — revealed in The Times on October 10 — caused an uproar from Territorials and from Opposition MPs. The MoD insisted that the ban on training until next April would not affect the special predeployment training programme given to all TA soldiers mobilised for Afghanistan.

However, senior TA commanders told The Times that the freeze would have a disastrous impact on the reserve force and that the short-term saving would persuade many of the part-time soldiers to leave.

“Allowing one night a month is pure cosmetics, it’s pathetic,” General Pike said.

The decision was announced by Bill Rammell, the Armed Forces Minister, during an emergency question on the TA in the Commons. He said it would reduce by £2.5million the £20million expected to be saved by stopping training for six months.

Faced with having to save £54million from the Land Force budget, army chiefs had come up with the £20million cutback in TA training. Bob Ainsworth, the Defence Secretary, endorsed the proposal.

“We did so being clear that we would not allow any risk to the Afghanistan campaign in the future to materialise. No TA soldier will be deployed on operations unless the Army is satisfied that he is properly trained and prepared,” Mr Rammell said.

“But as a Government we do listen. The Secretary of State has decided on a small adjustment compared to our original proposals to ensure continuity for those not immediately deploying to Afghanistan and to help retention,” Mr Rammell said, adding that 544 TA soldiers were currently serving in Afghanistan.

Liam Fox, the Shadow Defence Secretary, accused the Government of failing to understand the ethos of the TA.

“For many the TA is a habit — break the habit, break the TA,” he warned.

He said routine training was just as important as predeployment training to ensure long-term readiness. “These proposals are a shambles. They must be reversed,” he said.

Last night a senior TA source said that the whole manner in which the cuts had been announced was “a kick in the teeth” for the Territorials and described the £2.5million hand-back as “paltry”.

“At least it will keep the flame alight which is a good thing but it’s not going to meet the requirement for training and it will undermine the amazing men and women who give up their time for the reserve forces,” he said.

The TA had already had to suffer a cutback in resources earlier this year when £23 million was withdrawn from the budget — making the total reduction £43million.

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