Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Fort George closure announcement expected today

Fort George, where the Black Watch is based.
Fort George, where the Black Watch is based.

Plans to close Fort George as an active Army barracks are expected to be confirmed this morning.

The Ministry of Defence is poised to set out proposals to give the base at least a 10-year stay of execution.

But the move will signal the beginning of the end for the Army’s near-250-year presence at the fort.

Last night, there was growing anger in the north over the controversial move.

Campaigners have been battling to save Fort George after fears over its future surfaced in the summer.

Highland MP Drew Hendry described the possible pull-out of the military as a “devastating blow” for the region – and warned the decision would not be accepted by communities.

The MoD remained silent on the future of Fort George yesterday, but several sources confirmed an announcement would be made this morning.

It is also expected there will be no impact on Kinloss Barracks in Moray, which had been rumoured to be under consideration for closure as part of the current defence review.

It is anticipated that Fort George will be retained for at least the next 10 years before the 500-strong Black Watch 3 Scots battalion currently based at the barracks is moved to another base in Scotland.

The pull-out will be a huge blow to the economy of the Highlands and particularly Inverness, where many of the Black soldiers and their families live.

The Press and Journal has campaigned against any closure of Fort George, with thousands of people signing a petition calling for it to be retained, including Hollywood actor Hugh Grant, who has personal connections with the base.

SNP MP Mr Hendry has been heavily involved in the campaign and reacted with fury last night.

He said: “If these rumours are true, it is a devastating blow to the communities in my constituency, that have a long and proud history of serving the military.

“For months, I have asked the UK Government to share with us what their plans are for Fort George, yet the silence has been deafening.

“If this has, as I long suspected, in fact, been an attempt from this government to avoid hearing our case for Fort George, then it is completely disrespectful to my constituents.

“The Scottish Government has already been locked out of this entire process, and the secretary of state for Scotland has been actively briefing against Fort George.

“It is completely unacceptable and I will be demanding immediate answers.

“There is no way any attempt to close – or commence a rundown of this historic base – will simply be accepted by our communities.

“I will continue to press the UK Government to live up to its responsibilities to the area, the families who would be affected and to the historic Black Watch.”

Highlands and Islands Conservative MSP Edward Mountain, a former major who served for 12 years with the Blues and Royals cavalry regiment, responded to the news last night.

He said he would welcome Fort George staying open for at least the next 10 years.

But said that from a military point of view “it probably doesn’t justify being kept open as a barracks”.

He added: “The barracks are a listed building and you can’t give soldiers proper accommodation there.

“At Fort George, we’re so far away from training areas that for the regiment to use their Foxhound vehicles they have to go down to Otterburn (Northumberland).

“To use the weapons systems they have, they can’t fire them and they have to go down to Dundee.

“As a father of a soldier, and an ex-soldier, I’d rather time that my son had was spent training rather than travelling on buses.”

He added that because the regiment recruited from across the country, having soldiers based in Inverness often meant separating them from their families who live elsewhere in Scotland.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said on Friday he would make an announcement “very shortly” and refused to rule out mothballing Fort George.

The fort was built after the Battle of Culloden and as well as being an active barracks also acts as a tourist attraction, being home to the Highlanders’ Museum.