Reeves should abolish the OBR and trust in British enterprise to revive the economy
SIR – I read with dismay of the latest Vanguard-class submarine returning from another record-breaking patrol, this time lasting 204 days (Letters, March 22).
The amount of stress this must cause for the people who are serving on that submarine, their families and the systems onboard must be pushing all to breaking point.
The lack of serious development to support this already overstretched 'government strategic priority' is outrageous. There must be an in-depth root-cause analysis of what has happened, along with a robust review of how these people are compensated for the huge burden they and their families carry.
We are at the cliff edge when it comes to maintaining the UK's continuous at-sea deterrent.
David Roberts
Manchester
SIR – As a retired Royal Engineer who served for 23 years, with a son now 15 years into his career in the Corps, I wholeheartedly endorse Rear Admiral Philip Mathias's call for more pay for the Forces (Letters, March 22), particularly submariners.
However, I would point out that Servicemen and women are paid at a daily, not hourly, rate, and it is disingenuous to simply divide that by 24 hours.
I have the greatest respect for submariners. Theirs is a dangerous occupation, and their pay is rightly more per annum than that of someone on the minimum wage. A rating on day one of service and in training is on £25,000 per annum; leading hand can be achieved in four to five years, where the salary for a 22-23-year-old starts at £32,000; salaries of well over £50,000 can be earned by submariners in their thirties, after 10 to 12 years' service. In addition, they receive additional pay for sea service, and their time at sea is generally matched by similar periods of paid time off onshore.
That said, there are overall recruiting problems in all three Services. Pay in each should be increased generously – and not just at the level of inflation.
Paul Blake
Roweltown, Cumbria
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