Blair charges soldiers the privelege of risking their lives

The morale of Royal Marines serving on the front line in Afghanistan has plummeted after a £3,000 allowance was deducted from their wages following a "dreadful blunder" by Royal Navy administrators.

The revelation will come as an acute embarrassment for Tony Blair, who only last week was photographed among Royal Marines as he promoted Britain's strategy in the Taliban-ravaged country.

Politicians and Navy chiefs were so concerned over the impact of the wage cut that they sent extra human resources staff to Afghanistan to inform more than 1,000 commandos affected by the error.

The Marines had been told they could receive up to £17 extra a day as a special allowance for being on overseas operations during the six-month operation.

But they were misled and the Ministry of Defence has now refused to pay the extra £3,000 the men had been promised.

A senior Royal Navy officer said the error had been "absolutely devastating to morale".

"They are not being paid enough for what they do as it is so then to take £500 a month out of their pay is going to cause morale to plummet even further. Yes, they are incredibly dedicated people and love doing what they do out there, but this has made them incredibly unimpressed."

Is Blair trying to cripple our armed forces or is he that incompetent? Our men are over there fighting for their lives and he is charging them for the privilege of risking their lives for this country. He refuses to give them the equipment they need which could save their lives and now he is docking their pay because they don’t pay them the measly £17 bonus for being in a war zone.

I wouldn’t blame our military if they went on strike (they are banned from it) but because they are loyal to this country they won’t even think about it. It is time for Blair to be loyal to our troops.