Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú

Harrier fighter jets at RAF Wittering

We know the Harrier is going to be retired, but what will that mean for the future of RAF Wittering in Cambridgeshire?

The Tornadoes have been saved but some of their bases will close, so where does that leave RAF Marham in Norfolk?

And what about the plans to shed 7000 army jobs? Surely some of the many army bases in the East will be affected?

In the post announcement briefings, ministers and their staff were making it clear that nothing has been decided so far. "The details will be worked on in the weeks and months ahead," said one official.

Which means lots of uncertainty for the staff and families of the region's armed forces and their communities.

Already the MPs for RAFs Wittering and Marham - Conservatives Shailesh Vara and Elizabeth Truss - are promising to fight hard on behalf of their local bases. Both will claim over the next few months that they play a key part in the local economy. In Marham's case one in 12 jobs in West Norfolk is connected with the air base.

The future of Marham is probably more secure. It already has a big engineering base and it would make sense to move more Tornadoes there rather than close the base down. Peter Luff, a defence minister, told Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú Radio Norfolk that he was "reasonably optimistic" about Marham's future.

And then there's the return of troops from Germany. They will need to go somewhere. It is possible that Wittering may lose the Harriers but instead become an army base.

The East has always been important to the military. There will certainly be changes over the next few years, but everyone we've spoken to still expects it to play an important part in the region's life for some time to come.

• Bookmark with:
• |
• |
• - What's this?