Update on 2nd Battalion proposed disbandment

2nd Battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers

The Prime Minister has agreed to meet a Tory MP leading a campaign to reverse the scrapping of a battalion of Fusiliers.

John Baron, a former captain in the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, called a backbench debate in Parliament earlier this month, urging a U-turn from ministers on plans to wind up 2nd Battalion as part of the Army 2020 strategy.

The debate was watched by scores of veterans and MPs backed Mr Baron's non-binding motion in a Commons vote.

MPs backed Mr Baron's motion 57 to three, majority 54, but the result was not binding on the Government.

An estimated 400 members of the Fusiliers marched to Westminster ahead of the debate to the tune of a military band and wearing berets with distinctive red and white hackles.