THE ROYAL Marines’ future is hanging in the balance after Defence Secretary Grant Shapps refused to rule out mothballing the Navy’s amphibious assault ships.

       Shapps said he ordered the head of the Royal Navy to “provide a plan” for the commandos’ future.

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       The Marines’ future is hanging in the balance after Defence Secretary Grant Shapps refused to rule out mothballing the Navy’s amphibious assault ships Credit: Crown Copyright

       He said: “The Royal Marines are absolutely essential. I’ve asked the First Sea Lord to provide a plan for how their excellent work is taken forward.”

       Ex-Navy boss Lord West slammed Shapp’s demand as “extraordinary and dangerous”.

       He said: “It sounds like he is asking the First Sea Lord to justify why we have Royal Marines and that is extremely worrying.

       “It is very clear what the Royal Marines are for: They are one of our best fighting units, a key part of our amphibious capability and a crucial part of Nato.”

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       Lord West also slammed Shapps’ plans to retire the amphibious assault ships HMS Albion and Bulwark as “madness”.

       He said “it blows a hole in the raison d’etre of the commandos”.

       The Marines are facing manpower crisis with 1,000 fewer recruits than they need.

       The Navy says the landing ships “deliver the punch of the Royal Marines”.

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       They are designed to put hundreds of troops ashore with onboard landing craft and helicopters.

       The ships were due to stay in service for at least another decade – but Shapps shared plans with Downing Street to store them in “extended readiness” to free up sailors for other vessels.

       The Defence Secretary insisted yesterday that “no decision” had been made about the vessels’ future.

       Ex-Major General Julian Thompson, who led 3 Commando Brigade in the Falklands War, said: “It has been proved time and time again that you need to keep an amphibious capability.”

       Gen Thompson, 89, added: “The Royal Marines have had the axe held over their head for 359 years and have survived thanks to their excellence.

       “Three times in my lifetime people have been saying get rid of them, we don’t need them. They usually discover they do.”

       He added: “Before the Falklands war, in November 1981, the First Sea Lord actually said to me we will never carry out an amphibious landing again. He was proved wrong.

       “Every time they try and get rid of it, something comes up.”

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       A defence source insisted the Royal Marines would not get the chop.

       They said Shapps had asked First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Ben Key to work out how the commandos could fight without their key vessels.