From The Herald - July 27, 2005

The Army will have to spend up to £750,000 to outfit the reluctant soldiers of the new Royal Regiment of Scotland with matching kilts and accoutrements, the Herald can reveal. More than 1600 regular soldiers and 800 members of the Territorial Army will be affected, at a predicted cost of more than £300 each. It is understood a dark "government" tartan has been selected for kilts for the entire new super-regiment. It is already worn by two of the three Highland regiments, the Black Watch and the Argylls.

Meanwhile, a decision to scrap the traditional trews of the regular and Territorial Lowland units in favour of Highland kilts for all will add at least £87,000 to the final tailors' bill. Officers from the three existing Lowland infantry regiments are "deeply unhappy" about having to trade in their trews for kilts in the first place, insiders say. One Lowland officer said yesterday: "It costs £120 for a pair of tartan trews and £300 for a military kilt. "That's down to the comparative amount of cloth needed for each.

"The Highlanders, formed from the old Gordon's and Queen's Own, will need new kilts, since they wear Mackenzie, Gordon and Cameron of Erracht tartans.” It also means that 1100 regulars from the Royal Highland Fusiliers and the amalgamated King's Own Scottish Borderers and Royal Scots, plus 600 to 800 guys from part-time units on both sides of the Highland line will have to be issued with parade dress kilts and other bits and bobs." More than 1600 regulars and 800 Territorials will be affected at upwards of £300 a man. "It is a ridiculous waste of money at a time when resources for training, ammunition and equipment are already in short supply."

A source in the Royal Scots, the oldest infantry regiment in the British Army, said: "We were formed and fighting in trews almost 100 years before the first Highland unit was even raised.
"We are proud of our Lowland heritage and dress and can see no logic in the imposition of kilts at this stage of our history."

A spokeswoman for the MoD said: "The decision was taken last year that all would wear the kilt to properly reflect Scotland's identity abroad. Cost is always a consideration, but not the main issue."
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Brian Mackay