DRASTIC defence cuts were the only option, according to Tory former defence secretary Lord King of Bridgwater.

It was announced a day before the Spending Review was revealed that the Armed Forces is set to lose 17,000 soldiers, sailors and airmen.

The plans limit future one-off major deployments to 30,000 troops – below the 45,000 servicemen who joined the Iraq invasion.

Lord King blamed Labour for the state in which the defence budget was left and said the cuts were the best way to tackle the problem.

He said: “The last Government placed orders for which they didn’t have the money and have left us with an extremely difficult situation.”

He said terrorism was now a greater threat than conventional warfare and recommended investing more in special forces to deal with it.

He added: “This is a determined effort to get us better able to face terror challenges.”

He said it was unlikely the cuts to the armed forces would lead to job losses because the average length of service. But he added: “It would be very disappointing if that happened”.