:00:08. > :00:13.Welcome to Inside Out South from Salisbury, a city proud of its
:00:13. > :00:17.association with the military. Tonight... We need a mother
:00:17. > :00:22.campaigning for the former battalion of her son as the fight
:00:22. > :00:27.intensifies on government cuts. makes me so angry that this is how
:00:27. > :00:30.they are being treated and that they do not need them any more. It
:00:30. > :00:38.is a throwaway society and it is not good enough. They deserve
:00:38. > :00:43.better. Last week, Parliament decided to save one battalion that
:00:43. > :00:51.was due to be cut. This might not be binding but it could be a
:00:51. > :01:00.kickback against plans to cut 20,000 soldiers. Positive four stop
:01:00. > :01:07.we had two horses -- we head to the horses and a new event. We have got
:01:07. > :01:17.a couple more and we have got a small ones. This is Inside Out
:01:17. > :01:30.
:01:30. > :01:34.I the right, quick march! In the past few days they have been
:01:34. > :01:37.demonstrations against cuts to the army including a march on
:01:37. > :01:43.Westminster which one colonel described as the first of its kind
:01:43. > :01:47.since the days of Cromwell. If we are to create a balanced army
:01:47. > :01:53.capable of providing serious military capability for the future,
:01:53. > :01:57.a small number of units and Italians will have to be withdrawn.
:01:57. > :02:01.How have things changed in the last 24 months to such an extent that we
:02:01. > :02:11.are prepared to reduce a well recruited and sustainable and
:02:11. > :02:14.fighting regiment like it Regiment of Fusiliers to one Battalion? 2nd
:02:14. > :02:23.battalion the Royal Welsh is similarly and the Mercian Regiment
:02:23. > :02:32.also using capable and sustainable With 20,000 soldiers set to lose
:02:32. > :02:35.their jobs it is time to be Tidworth near Salisbury. Home to
:02:36. > :02:39.the 2nd Battalion the Royal Welsh, one of those due to be cut in the
:02:39. > :02:42.Defence Review. Also home to the Highland Gunners otherwise known as
:02:42. > :02:51.the 19th Regiment the Royal Artillery. And right now, they are
:02:51. > :02:57.about to come home from Afghanistan. He is coming home today. How long
:02:57. > :03:07.have you waited? Six and a half months. More than 200 days. Very
:03:07. > :03:07.
:03:07. > :03:10.hard. It has been an emotional roller-coaster, really. You are
:03:10. > :03:17.waiting for the telephone call and I have not heard anything in seven
:03:17. > :03:23.months. It is a very long time. Crazy. Every emotion you can
:03:23. > :03:33.imagine. Now I cannot even remember my name or anything! It has been
:03:33. > :03:34.
:03:34. > :03:38.hard. They have just returned from Helmand Province, where they have
:03:38. > :03:43.been training Afghanistan soldiers and police ahead of the British
:03:43. > :03:53.withdrawal in December, 2014. They recruit from the Highlands and
:03:53. > :03:56.Emotional reunions are part and parcel of army life, but there are
:03:56. > :04:06.fears a smaller army could mean more frequent tours, putting more
:04:06. > :04:08.
:04:08. > :04:13.stress on families. I know who I am going to pick up first! I am
:04:13. > :04:18.looking forward to getting used to family life again. My feeling is
:04:18. > :04:22.one of joy and I am just relieved to have him home in one piece.
:04:22. > :04:27.have been told we cannot talk to the soldiers about cuts and the
:04:27. > :04:31.effect they might have on morale. Instead we are talking about how
:04:31. > :04:37.proud they are to have done their work in Afghanistan. Very proud. We
:04:38. > :04:42.have done a good job. I am very proud. I was in Afghanistan for
:04:42. > :04:47.years ago. Coming back in March, I bit is the difference then and I
:04:47. > :04:52.noticed the difference after six months and is a different country.
:04:52. > :04:56.The dynamic is changing constantly around us. We had to focus on a job
:04:56. > :05:00.in Afghanistan. Everything is changing. We are probably not the
:05:00. > :05:06.best people to answer that question, but saying that, we have personal
:05:06. > :05:12.opinions. The army is in a state of flux. We are waiting to see where
:05:12. > :05:15.we stand. Can we talk to the soldier? Is not a soldier! While
:05:15. > :05:19.the Highland Gunners look safe as a regiment, no-one can be sure they
:05:19. > :05:22.won't be one of the 20,000 soldiers to be cut. Under the changes
:05:22. > :05:24.announced by the Defence Minister Philip Hammond in the summer, the
:05:24. > :05:34.regular army will shrink from 102,000 to 80,000, with the
:05:34. > :05:38.territorial army having a greater role. -- 82 thousand. And that
:05:38. > :05:43.means we will have to reassess how often and how long we go to war,
:05:44. > :05:49.according to the former Gulf war Commander of the Desert Rats.
:05:49. > :05:52.have got to make certain that if we reduce the army, we do not send
:05:52. > :05:56.people on operations more frequently and you have got to be
:05:57. > :06:02.careful about operations you get involved in. We are a bellicose
:06:02. > :06:08.nation. We like getting involved. With the war in Afghanistan, we
:06:08. > :06:13.were far too involved and we had too many soldiers. That has got to
:06:13. > :06:23.stop. We have got to be much more careful about how often we say, yes
:06:23. > :06:25.we want to get involved in this operation. Local casualties of the
:06:25. > :06:28.cuts include Two Three Pioneer Regiment in Bicester and the
:06:28. > :06:36.Tidworth-based 2nd Battalion the Royal welsh who will be merged with
:06:36. > :06:46.the 1st battalion. Is there any particular reason you want going to
:06:46. > :06:48.
:06:48. > :06:52.Kandahar? Among the people concerned is the mother of Private
:06:52. > :06:57.Richard Hunt, who was killed in Afghanistan. That is a prominent
:06:57. > :07:02.picture. This is Richard and that is the other lads that was killed
:07:02. > :07:09.some weeks later, James. That is the the picture with both of them.
:07:09. > :07:14.And we have got his dresser. This is made out of spent cartridges
:07:15. > :07:21.which they do for every lad killed. And you have got the plume and
:07:21. > :07:26.badge put on top and that is sent home to you. And we have got this
:07:26. > :07:32.lovely picture of Richard. And again, it is made out of what they
:07:32. > :07:37.can get their hands on. He said, I am sorry, it is a bit rough but I
:07:37. > :07:43.said I did not mind because it is made with love and respect. It is
:07:43. > :07:49.one of the last pictures of him. Six foot two inches and eyes are
:07:49. > :07:53.blue. That is very precious to me. I will try and keep it clean. And
:07:53. > :07:58.upstairs we have the big room, which actually would have been
:07:58. > :08:04.Richard's had he come back. It would have been his pad. It is
:08:04. > :08:09.filled with all sorts of mementoes from his Mexican Hat, to his drums
:08:09. > :08:18.down at the bottom. The room as I picked up to begin with was when I
:08:18. > :08:23.was actually at the funeral of two of the Royal Welsh that died
:08:24. > :08:29.recently. Then we thought it will be the 1st Battalion, the second,
:08:29. > :08:32.or it will not be at all. But the actual announcement was the
:08:32. > :08:38.television announcement made by Philip Hammond. It particularly
:08:38. > :08:41.annoyed me because he said that he would merge the first and second
:08:41. > :08:46.battalion. You can only emerge battalions when there are places
:08:46. > :08:50.for them to do too. The 1st Battalion is also in Helmand
:08:50. > :08:55.Province and is also recruited in Wales. They cannot merge them
:08:56. > :09:00.because they will be no jobs for them to go to. Unless they went to
:09:00. > :09:04.battalions outside of Wales, that is if there are jobs for them to go
:09:04. > :09:14.to which I doubt, then be anything they are going to be getting his
:09:14. > :09:18.step p 45. I think a lot of this will have an impact on particularly
:09:18. > :09:28.areas of southern Wales which traditionally recruit them. The
:09:28. > :09:29.
:09:29. > :09:33.army see it as a way of mobility. It is for people coming out of
:09:33. > :09:37.troubled circumstances and people that have had a difficult start in
:09:37. > :09:41.life and it is a way of gaining expertise, experience and skills
:09:41. > :09:46.that they can take into employment later. You are losing that
:09:46. > :09:52.opportunity for some of these communities, because they have got
:09:53. > :09:57.less regiments to return to. That is going to have an impact on Wales.
:09:57. > :10:02.If this had been 20,000 doctors, nurses, teachers, train drivers,
:10:02. > :10:10.they would be an uproar and the unions would be in on it. The army
:10:10. > :10:13.has no union. They cannot speak for themselves. Richard is actually
:10:14. > :10:23.buried in the local church straight across the. We can see these little
:10:24. > :10:24.
:10:24. > :10:34.building and window and he is to the right of that. -- across the. -
:10:34. > :10:35.
:10:35. > :10:40.This is Richard underneath the tree. He was placed it because it gives a
:10:40. > :10:45.direct view to the farm across the grounds so we can see him and he
:10:45. > :10:49.can see us. I come here almost every day in the summer months. And
:10:49. > :10:54.then about two or three times a week during the winter. I come down
:10:54. > :10:59.at his birthday and at Christmas I gave him a small Christmas tree.
:10:59. > :11:04.I've read out aloud to him. I bring a book down, normally a military
:11:04. > :11:08.book because that is what he likes and I normally used to read to him
:11:08. > :11:13.as a child. It makes me angry that this is the way they are being
:11:13. > :11:18.treated. That is the job done and we do not need you any more. It is
:11:18. > :11:24.part and parcel of the Railway Society and is not good enough
:11:25. > :11:28.because they deserve better. -- throw away society. Even some of
:11:28. > :11:33.those that agree with the cuts they think that they might have fallen
:11:33. > :11:37.in the wrong places for political reasons. Scottish regiments like
:11:37. > :11:43.the Highland Gunners have been left untouched even though unlike Welsh
:11:43. > :11:52.regiments, the Scots struggle to recruit locally. I think the logic
:11:52. > :11:56.of making these cuts... The army is going to come down to 80,000
:11:56. > :12:01.personnel. That is partly economic will. The reality is that we cannot
:12:01. > :12:08.afford to maintain what we have currently got. What I would have
:12:08. > :12:12.done differently is to focus on different types of cuts. The
:12:12. > :12:15.Scottish regiments will be in trouble because they cannot recruit
:12:15. > :12:20.from other forces and I would merge them with other battalions instead.
:12:20. > :12:25.I would question if gurkhas should be retained. We have historically
:12:25. > :12:30.kept them because we have struggled to recruit from raised regiments
:12:30. > :12:38.with exception of Scotland, that is not a problem. We have kept them
:12:38. > :12:43.because they were trippers. Prior to the reform debate -- troopers.
:12:44. > :12:50.They cost the army a lot less than the British soldier. You are paying
:12:50. > :12:55.extra to keep them compared to ordinary British soldiers. The
:12:55. > :13:00.third reason we want to look at this is because that when they are
:13:00. > :13:04.retired, they are often retired to Nepal and they take their pension
:13:04. > :13:08.and they invest in part of international development for their
:13:08. > :13:12.country. Now it is changing about where they can leave after they
:13:12. > :13:17.retire and a lot of them are staying here. That lost revenue
:13:17. > :13:21.stream is a problem for the poll. I think that they could have been cut
:13:21. > :13:26.alongside a number of Scottish regiments. I think the Scottish
:13:26. > :13:31.question leads us to the issue of Scottish independence and David
:13:31. > :13:36.Cameron did not want to keep ammunition for Alex Salmond and
:13:36. > :13:46.campaign for Scottish independence. Trying to placate nationalism
:13:46. > :13:53.
:13:53. > :13:58.against this is damaging the They are clearly having difficulty
:13:58. > :14:04.in recruiting in Scotland. There are a lot of Fijian soldiers in the
:14:04. > :14:08.Scottish battalions. It needs to be treated with kid gloves at the
:14:08. > :14:16.moment, we cannot have it going off the Independent so play around with
:14:16. > :14:20.the Scottish at your peril. A Welsh Italian, well recruited, having to
:14:20. > :14:30.be cut, probably for political reasons -- a Welsh Italian to stop
:14:30. > :14:33.I was upset because it is always sad to see anybody go. Towns around
:14:33. > :14:38.Salisbury Plain have long been linked to the army because this is
:14:38. > :14:42.where they come to train. You would expect a special sort of affection
:14:42. > :14:52.and increased concern about the cuts, especially in garrison towns
:14:52. > :14:53.
:14:53. > :14:57.like Tidworth. It is wrong, they are putting people out of service,
:14:57. > :15:03.and they are dumping on them. is a threat every time, everywhere,
:15:03. > :15:08.these days, nowhere is safe. Tidworth will be Tidworth for ever
:15:08. > :15:15.and ever. It is the army that has kept it going. It is a Garrison,
:15:15. > :15:19.that is it. They put a lot into the community. They have kept us
:15:19. > :15:26.employed for many years. We have only recently retired but we were
:15:26. > :15:34.both employed by the MoD. I did their to one years. Added 36 years.
:15:34. > :15:38.-- 31 years, I did 36 years. planned withdrawal of around 20,000
:15:38. > :15:45.troops based in Germany does mean soldiers will need to find new
:15:45. > :15:52.bases at home. That could be good news for local economies. Tidworth
:15:52. > :15:56.is a real winner, people are talking about a super Garrison, all
:15:56. > :16:02.the major equipment in the British Army, the division that will take
:16:02. > :16:12.part in a large port will be based around Tidworth and Salisbury. Look
:16:12. > :16:17.
:16:17. > :16:24.out, get ready for more people, a more permanent presence. It is good
:16:24. > :16:28.news for Tidworth in terms of building and those sorts of things.
:16:28. > :16:31.Last year at the second Battalion - - the 2nd Battalion, The Royal
:16:31. > :16:38.Welsh came back from Afghanistan before how much longer will it be
:16:38. > :16:41.home as Britain decides which was a can of fortified in future.
:16:41. > :16:45.honest view is it is a good thing they will not be used quite so
:16:45. > :16:50.often because the army is going to be smaller, I feel we have overdone
:16:50. > :16:54.it in the recent past, history may well show actually it wasn't the
:16:54. > :16:59.best moment for us to get involved in these arguably unnecessary
:16:59. > :17:04.conflicts we have got involved in. These lads have put so much into
:17:04. > :17:07.their careers, and I did write a letter to Philip Hammond and asked
:17:07. > :17:11.him it is all very well doing surveys asking how happy they are
:17:11. > :17:14.with a job and their pay and all that sort of thing, but has he
:17:14. > :17:23.recently asked somebody who has come back from the 4th tour off
:17:23. > :17:27.Afghanistan how they feel about being handed their p 45? I couldn't
:17:27. > :17:34.see myself in another battalion, having the same and the sphere. It
:17:34. > :17:37.is amazing. They are cracking bunch of lads. As a Welsh man to serve
:17:37. > :17:42.with the Royal Welch in Afghanistan is a great thing and it obviously
:17:42. > :17:47.bring on a back is one of the best feelings a man can have. Just
:17:47. > :17:57.marching up there I had tears in my eyes. We are all home, all safe.
:17:57. > :18:02.
:18:02. > :18:05.Next, travellers and their horses go together like bangers and mash,
:18:05. > :18:09.gin-and-tonic, tea and biscuits. Throw in some parts and you have
:18:09. > :18:19.got one of the events on the travellers calendar, who could
:18:19. > :18:19.
:18:19. > :18:24.resist an invitation to Danny 170 courses and families from
:18:24. > :18:28.across the country arrive at any keeper's home in the New Forest.
:18:28. > :18:38.They are lightly gypsy families but others have heard about this annual
:18:38. > :18:41.event. They come from all about -- all over the country. This is
:18:41. > :18:49.proper New Forest Drive, there are other smaller ones, but they are
:18:49. > :18:56.trying to copy me. I started at about nine years ago. Only just
:18:56. > :19:03.friends and family. I think we had 27 on the first one, every year it
:19:03. > :19:08.has got bigger and bigger. Today there were 170 falsies. Everybody
:19:08. > :19:13.loves to get together, they come from all over the country. I am
:19:13. > :19:17.just trying to keep things going. It is fabulous. They deliver
:19:17. > :19:23.coloured horses, and they left to see them and they are their pride
:19:23. > :19:30.and joy. That is the way we do it. Ever popular among the regulars is
:19:30. > :19:37.a patriotic top Hungarian or strainer. -- horse trainer. I have
:19:38. > :19:47.got all my Hungarian family. A really good guy, because, very
:19:48. > :19:48.
:19:48. > :19:52.patient but very strict. He sticks to the rules, but experience.
:19:52. > :19:57.a horse riding nation, we came to Europe on horseback. This is where
:19:57. > :20:04.it comes from. If you open your brain, mind, heart, you can
:20:04. > :20:08.understand a horse and it can understand you, a good friend.
:20:09. > :20:14.came here the last three years, so much fun, so we come every year.
:20:14. > :20:21.Every year we have an extra horse. This is Albert, his second time,
:20:21. > :20:26.and this is Dolly, her first time. It is so well organised, everybody
:20:26. > :20:31.is so friendly, everybody is there to help, and you get to see the
:20:31. > :20:34.same faces year after year, really good fun. No reunion is complete
:20:34. > :20:44.without music, and one son has been specially written to celebrate the
:20:44. > :20:49.
:20:49. > :20:58.occasion. -- and of one song. will be headed out the gate. We go
:20:58. > :21:08.Although it doesn't have official approval the bat is now it happens
:21:08. > :21:10.
:21:10. > :21:14.unseen to turn a blind eye. -- the authorities. A lot of holiday
:21:15. > :21:20.people love to see it and you get the odd one who doesn't. A lot of
:21:20. > :21:26.people take photographs, you just get the odd one who is impatient.
:21:26. > :21:31.They forget the horses were here before the cars. Most of them are
:21:31. > :21:33.all right. You cannot grumble. is it about all these black and
:21:34. > :21:42.white and brown and white horses had makes them so attractive to
:21:42. > :21:46.gypsy families. The coloured horses stand out, when the traveller man
:21:46. > :21:48.got a club tour still look pretty and if they go to a fair and
:21:48. > :21:52.wonders told they can say they can pick them out. They always
:21:52. > :21:58.different. The colours are so different, just like the Indians.
:21:58. > :22:02.When they went out their painted them all up stop I don't know what
:22:02. > :22:06.it is, do something about the colour. As long as you have got a
:22:06. > :22:10.good kind I, that is the main thing. Well behaved. Tree to might, they
:22:10. > :22:15.were true you ride. Life is changing and horses are becoming
:22:15. > :22:20.more of a hobby than a necessity. lot of people in the 50s and 60s
:22:20. > :22:29.travelled a nomadic lifestyle. A lot of us are settled down. I have
:22:29. > :22:33.got a couple of businesses, not all of us, but some have moved on.
:22:33. > :22:37.have got four children at school, one works in the city in London,
:22:37. > :22:40.but we still want to keep our culture where we are. My boys still
:22:40. > :22:46.comes on the drive, I picked him up from the train station in his
:22:46. > :22:50.three-piece suit. If you come from India and to live in England you
:22:50. > :22:55.are still in June. We are travellers, because some of us live
:22:55. > :22:57.in houses and some don't, we have still got our culture me want our
:22:57. > :23:03.children brought up with our principles. 95% of travellers have
:23:03. > :23:05.got good morals, principles, good principles around gills, our
:23:06. > :23:15.daughters are brought up not to have boyfriends and tell the right
:23:15. > :23:23.age. Good morals. The other 5% you cannot help, but there are a lot
:23:23. > :23:29.more this D Bevan said travellers. We like to meet up, it keeps our
:23:29. > :23:39.children's tradition. My parents lived in trailers, and my great
:23:39. > :23:42.
:23:42. > :23:46.grandparent travelled on the With a long line of horses like
:23:46. > :23:52.this crossing busy tourist routes an event like this has its dangers
:23:52. > :24:02.and the organisers live in fear at something could go wrong. -- that
:24:02. > :24:06.
:24:06. > :24:16.It is not about racing, at least not yet. This is a family day and
:24:16. > :24:21.
:24:21. > :24:28.It all changes at Balmer Lawn in Brockenhurst where the youngsters
:24:28. > :24:34.in particular let rip. We like to keep the family altogether. That is
:24:34. > :24:40.where the kids have got horses, saved them running the streets. If
:24:40. > :24:50.they have caused is there with him all the time. He keeps all the
:24:50. > :24:53.
:24:53. > :24:56.family together. It brings them all together. Later on in life they
:24:57. > :25:01.will be good horsemen and women. They have had so much handling of
:25:01. > :25:10.them. Like anything else, the more you use a horse, the better they
:25:10. > :25:17.While the forest in agent least a few bemused day-trippers looking on
:25:17. > :25:23.-- invasion. For one man the drive has a special meaning. It means a
:25:23. > :25:33.lot to me, the highlight of my life, really. Every year we look forward
:25:33. > :25:35.
:25:35. > :25:41.to it. Going back to your roots. You have been used to being brought
:25:41. > :25:47.up with it. I have always liked horses. My father used to go to
:25:47. > :25:52.Stow-on-the-Wold in a wagon, a proper gypsy wagon. I suppose it is
:25:52. > :25:58.in the breeding. Hanging away from what we are. This is my grandson,
:25:58. > :26:08.tummy, he would be the same. We look for our family and our horses
:26:08. > :26:25.
:26:25. > :26:35.It is brilliant, going through the forest, not another place like it
:26:35. > :26:45.
:26:45. > :26:52.in England. Such character. At the moment I am feeling very
:26:52. > :26:57.tense. I am hoping when we get back him and everybody is back in the
:26:57. > :27:02.yard safe, that is our day ever with and we can relax and do what
:27:02. > :27:06.we have got to do, the horses will be washed down, everybody us will
:27:06. > :27:16.be tidied up, they can be fed, put to bed, and we can start enjoying
:27:16. > :27:23.
:27:23. > :27:33.On the way home there is a chance for the more competitive to show
:27:33. > :27:35.
:27:35. > :27:40.off their horses Paiseys. -- paces. You cannot be live. You can go
:27:40. > :27:44.abroad, a lot of good places, but the New Forest is a real special
:27:45. > :27:48.place, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else, so relaxed. He takes
:27:48. > :27:58.your mind of everything. Get away from the phones, this and that,
:27:58. > :28:07.
:28:07. > :28:17.People say I have had a good day, shake my hand, it has been
:28:17. > :28:24.
:28:24. > :28:28.marvellous, that is what I love to That is just about all we have got
:28:28. > :28:38.time for. Don't forget, if you think you have got a story for us
:28:38. > :28:43.