MP speaks in support of threatened Dudley Territorial Army base
Dudley North MP Ian Austin has spoken in support of the town's under-threat Territorial Army base during a debate in the House of Commons.
Mr Austin praised the soldiers, saying the regiment was at the heart of the community.
Defence ministers are considering proposals to split up The Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry (RMLY).
The regiment, which has a squadron base, in Vicar Street, Dudley, could be split to allow for the creation of a Scottish Yeomanry.
A campaign to save the regiment has been launched and a petition against the axing of the RMLY has attracted more than 1,400 signatures.
Campaigners say that Dudley's A Squadron, is the only remaining TA Royal Armoured Corps Squadron to be based in the West Midlands, plays a vital role.
Mr Austin, who is also fighting the plans, praised the work of the soldiers who are based in Dudley during yesterday's debate.
"It is the best recruited squadron in the country," he told MPs.
"It recently took on 47 new trainees and is processing another 60 now, and has had two dozen volunteers on active service in Afghanistan. The people of Britain show huge respect and support for the work of our Armed Forces. Nowhere is this more true than in Dudley, where our local regiment is at the heart of the community and has the freedom of the borough.
"It is hugely important that the TA is not reorganised in a way that puts that in jeopardy," he added.
Mr Austin has previously criticised the proposals and says that at a time when the Government is in the process of doubling the size of the TA, it makes no sense to scrap 'a successful and expanding regiment'.
The proposals follow Government plans to double the number of TA soldiers nationally to 30,000 over the next five years.
Labour's shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy, who visited the borough in April, spoke of the campaign to save the regiment from the axe during yesterday's debate.
He said: "When I was in Dudley, the campaign was so fierce that it was the one issue about which the local media wanted to talk.
"I congratulate him, and the Government will have to take into account the point he makes, not only about the high regard in which the unit is held in Dudley but the fact that it is recruited to full strength and is indeed over-subscribed."