Admirals thrown to sharks as ‘top-heavy’ navy tries to cut costs

The MoD seeks to curb spending before a wave of Whitehall reforms
The cuts to the senior service’s top brass will start in the new year
The cuts to the senior service’s top brass will start in the new year
RORY ARNOLD/PA

Five Royal Navy admirals face walking the plank while the fleet’s Portsmouth headquarters is to be cut by almost half in the biggest shake-up of the high command in a generation.

The cuts will start in the new year as the senior service moves to get ahead of a wave of Whitehall reforms to the military being prepared by Boris Johnson’s senior adviser, Dominic Cummings. He has been a persistent critic of waste in the Ministry of Defence.

The navy has long been criticised for having more admirals than warships and the new defence secretary, Ben Wallace, has lambasted navy chiefs for the number of ships and submarines stuck in harbour awaiting repairs or lacking crews.

Defence secretary Ben Wallace criticised navy chiefs for the number of ships and submarines stuck in harbour
Defence secretary Ben Wallace criticised navy chiefs for the number of ships and submarines stuck in harbour
TOBIAS SCHWARZ

In a BBC interview on Friday, Wallace confirmed he