Britain's military faces staffing crisis

Britain's armed forces are suffering their biggest staffing crisis in years, with the vital area of intelligence analysis being one of the worst affected sections.

The National Audit Office, which regulates government spending, has published a report revealing that the number of full-time military personnel is 5.7 percent, or 8,200 people, below the required level. Most alarmingly in an era of new challenges such as cybersecurity, the shortfall in intelligence analysts is 26 percent.

Meg Hillier, the chair of the public accounts committee, said the report showed the armed forces to be "woefully below compliment, especially in crucial areas like intelligence and engineering", adding that "the Ministry of Defence needs to take a long hard look at its current approach".