The Big Question: Why is morale in the British military so low, and is the mood justified?

Why are we asking this now?

A survey to assess attitudes across the armed forces has shown that almost half of all military personnel are ready to leave the services. The report highlights the sheer pressure on family life because of continuous deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq, with many returning for second or even third tours.

The extremely high figures of those disillusioned comes in the background of senior commanders repeatedly warning about overstretch caused by fighting wars on two fronts and the lack of some essential equipment. The Prime Minister, however, has chosen this moment to open up what appears to be a third front – giving the Nigerian government military assistance in fighting the rebels in the oil producing Niger Delta.

This was done without consulting the military, and Major General Julian Thompson, the former commander of the Royal Marines, and an influential figure in the military establishment, described Gordon Brown's proposal last night as "crackers, completely unrealistic".

Are there too many deployments abroad?

Britain's armed forces, at a total number of 196,650, are comparatively small and, say military analysts, were simply not designed to be engaged in prolonged conflicts abroad. Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, the Chief of Defence Staff, warned the Government last month: "We are not structured or resourced to two of these things [Iraq and Afghanistan] on this scale on an enduring basis, but we have been doing it on an enduring basis for years. Until we get to the stage when one of them comes down to small scale, we will be stretched beyond the capability we have."

The numbers in Iraq, around 4.500, are due be reduced in the coming months, but the commitment in Afghanistan is expected to grow and the forces are expected to be there for at least a decade.

Have the forces been let down onequipment?

In the Ministry of Defence survey, 50 per cent of Royal Navy personnel said they were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the equipment provided. This rose to 57 per cent among the Royal Marines, 49 per cent in the Army and 52 per cent for the RAF.

Some of the equipment failures have been notorious. The forces standard rifle, the SA-80, had to have more than 80 modifications costing tens of millions of pounds before it was got right. The communication system during the Kosovo war was so unreliable that soldiers were borrowing mobile telephones from reporters to call comrades.

The Ministry of Defence points out that it has delivered equipment worth more than £10bn in the past three years, and there has undoubtedly been improvement. One urgent requirement is for armoured vehicles like the Mastiff, Ridgback and Panther in Afghanistan and Iraq to replace "Snatch" Land Rovers, which have proved lethally vulnerable to roadside bombs.

How much has Iraq contributed to the mood in the military?

There has undoubtedly been disillusionment and anger at the way Tony Blair's government sold the case for invasion in 2003, ranging across all ranks. Many in the military also believe that the public antipathy to the war may have contributed to a lack of empathy with the armed forces. There was also a sense of frustration that, until recently, thousands of British troops were confined to Basra airbase while the militias rampaged through the city, and at the same time coming under regular mortar and rocket attack.

One member of the RAF Regiment said to me at the airport: "Every single life being lost now is a waste of a life. This cannot be justified." Some of the equipment problems were directly related to the Government trying to hide that it was preparing to take part in the invasion. Procurement orders for vital supplies, such as body armour, were delayed because Downing Street was keen to show that it was pursuing a diplomatic rather than military option with Saddam Hussein.

So how bad is morale?

The survey showed that in the Army 59 per cent thought level of morale was "low" or "very low"; in the Royal Navy it was 64 per cent; and the Royal Marines 38 per cent. The worst perception of morale was in the RAF, with 72 per cent saying morale was low.

The figures make stark reading and will be a source of great discomfort to the Ministry of Defence. Much of it is due to what is perceived by many as lack of support for what they are doing – low pay and poor accommodation being among the main reasons as well as the numbers of tours abroad. Many service personnel simply feel unloved and unappreciated.

There have been incidents, albeit only a few, of soldiers in uniform being insulted in the street because of their association with what is seen as a dubious campaign in Iraq. They were considered so damaging that the Government might bring in legislation that would make insulting soldiers a "hate crime".

What can be doneto improve the situation?

The demand from senior officers to junior ranks is that if the Government is prepared to use the military so frequently as an instrument of foreign policy then it must be prepared to allocate much greater resources.

The head of the Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, recently pointed out that on average a soldier joining the forces earns less than a traffic warden, and the comparatively low pay is a huge issue. Members of the forces also point out that service personnel in other countries, especially the United States, receive a variety of financial incentives such as tax breaks when serving abroad.

In the end it also becomes a matter of numbers, say military analysts. Overstretch can only be cured by either scaling down operations or increasing the size of the armed forces, and that will cost money.

But don't service personnel tend to grumble about their lot?

Media emphasis on soldiers complaining about their kit, food etc... can lead to that conclusion, but that would be unfair. In fact the British soldiers that one comes across in the field are remarkably stoical under some pretty difficult circumstances. It is also the case that moaning about equipment and the lack of understanding from politicians and the top brass back home have been a long tradition in the British and many other armies.

Is too much being asked of British forces?

Yes...

* It is simply impossible to maintain this high tempo of operations over such a prolonged period

* Retention is now a major problem, with public money spent on training personnel who then leave to join private security companies

* The political will to invest in the military evaporates in the face of competition for funds from health and education

No...

* People join the military, at the end of the day, to take part in combat, and that is what they are being asked to do now

* Their equipment has vastly improved; the British commander in Helmand said his force was probably the best equipped in the field

* The services teach recruits a variety of skills, from flying jets to being an electrician, which they can use after leaving the forces