Gromit, if somebody is paid £40K from the public purse to work in the state sector and then taxed 30% on it, the public purse is £27K down. If instead they're paid £10K in benefits from the public purse, then the public purse is only £10K down.
R1Geezer, I agree that all our forces deserve our respect and admiration and to be paid fairly - but I don't see why the Paras should be paid more just for being Paras, especially when they haven't been deployed in that capacity since Suez. If they're worth that £180 per month extra then let's pay it to them, but to say they're all being paid it because their training is being maintained (also at a cost to us) for a situation that hasn't cropped up in 55 years isn't sustainable. The decision to reduce capacity in the Paras seems entirely sensible to me, if a shame ...