Daniel Jarvis, a backbench MP for Barnsley and a former army officer, has criticised the government for low morale in the armed forces.

THE Labour backbench MP and former paratrooper Daniel Jarvis has accused the coalition government of "failing" Britain's armed forces.

With a fortnight to go before Remembrance Sunday, the MP for Barnsley Central has warned that morale among service men and women is at "rock bottom" and has put the blame firmly at the doors of Whitehall.

He pointed to a recent attitude survey of forces personnel, carried out by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), which revealed that 52% of soldiers are satisfied with service life, only a third feel valued and just 18% report high morale.

"It falls to politicians to give the armed forces strategic direction while at the lower level good leadership ensures a sense of belonging and purpose. But while our junior commanders still match up to their responsibilities the same cannot be said of Whitehall," Jarvis wrote in The Sun on Sunday.