Despite a costly publicity campaign that has only enabled to recruit nearly 600 new British soldiers, more than 6 000 infantrymen resigned from the Territorial Forces of Her Majesty last year, probably due to the deployment in Iraq, whose deadline the authorities refuse to set. According to a recent official report, British ground forces have currently a total of 35 000 soldiers – the lowest figure since it was created, in 1907 – of which only 12 000 are in an appropriate operational level to be able to intervene as reinforcement in the Near East.
In order to diminish this severe deficit, a “recruitment bonus” of 500 Sterling pounds (735 Euros) will be paid for every backed soldier during Christmas. This indicates that the British army is now obliged to turn its soldiers into recruit-hunters.