Adam Ingram MP, Minister of State for the Armed Forces, has just written
to Michael Fabricant to announce yet another review into the future of
Whittington Barracks. In his letter, he says: "There will be a Review
into the siting of Infantry Regimental Headquarters (RHQs). I am
writing to inform you as I am aware that an Infantry RHQ is located
within your constituency…. The RHQ Review is expected to make
recommendations by the end of the year. It is obviously far too early
to speculate about the likely outcome of the Review….. The Review
will not look into museums. However, where museums are co-located with
RHQs, the implications for the museums will have to be determined and
weighed in consideration of options."

Michael Fabricant says: "So this now makes three concurrent reviews all
which might affect the future of our barracks. I note that the
Government did not choose to announce this latest review before election
day.

"The first review is into which Army Training Regiment base will be
closed. The ATR currently has a base at Whittington. The second is a
general review into the future of all MOD property and will take into
account the outcome of the first review. And this latest third review,
only just announced, again affects Whittington Barracks as it is the
Regimental HQ of the Staffordshire Regiment which has now been merged
into the Mercian Regiment. The consequence, which I predicted before
the general election, is that the Government might well conclude that
now the Staffordshire Regiment no longer exists as such, there is no
need for it to have a Regimental HQ. This could be just the beginning
of the fall out from the Government’s decision to merge the Staffords in
with two other historic regiments.

"I will be contacting the Staffordshire Regimental Museum shortly to
determine a plan of action. It would be a very great shame if, exactly
300 years after the Regiment’s foundation at the King’s Head pub in Bird
Street, Lichfield in 1705, the Government were to announce the closure
of the Whittington Barracks and the ending of a long tradition of
cooperation and harmony between the City of Lichfield and the British
Army."