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News Release 16th July 2004STAFFORDSHIRE REGIMENT TO GO?Michael Fabricant is alarmed at national press reports today (Friday 16th July) which leak a statement to be made next week by the Secretary of State for Defence which, if the leaks are true, will announce the end of the Staffordshire Regiment among with other famous regiments. It is thought that the Staffordshire Regiment, the 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment, and the Worcester and Sherwood Foresters Regiment will all merge into a Mercia Regiment. Michael has today tabled an urgent question asking the Secretary of State to make a statement on the future of the Staffords. "The Staffordshire Regiment has had a glorious past and an illustrious present. It is integral to the life of Lichfield having being founded in the City in the King's Head in Bird Street. It's 300th anniversary will be celebrated next year. Government cuts and a desperate drive to be 'modern' must not be allowed to transform the celebration into a wake" says Michael Fabricant. In 1991, Michael was the first candidate in the run-up to the General Election to sign up to the Save Our Staffords (SOS) campaign and continued to fight against a proposed merger with the Cheshires in Parliament. A year later, Malcolm Rifkind (then Secretary of State for Defence) announced that SOS had won and the regiment was saved. |
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