Garrison Sergeant Bill Mott, one of the Army’s most senior officers, has warned that cuts to the armed forces are threatening to undermine the pageantry and spectacle of Britain’s biggest ceremonial events. Mott, who oversees all major ceremonial events, says he is now struggling to produce the same spectacle now that the armed forces have shrunk.
Over the past twelve years Garrison Sergeant Major Bill Mott has overseen every major ceremonial event in London including the royal wedding, Baroness Thatcher’s funeral and Trooping the Colour. However, in light of the recent military cuts he claims that “as we condense we have to conform to various restraints, and it becomes more and more difficult to still produce the same spectacle. But the wonderful thing about the Armed Forces is they grit their teeth and they get on with it, and they comply and just adhere. They just make it work.”
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said that while ceremonial duties remain an important part of the armed forces, the priority is to ensure that Britain retains an effective fighting force.