The PSNI will police Northern Ireland without reliance on the British army, Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde has said.
The police service has not called on army back-up for many months, he added.
"For many months now we have not relied at all on our military colleagues for support to deliver normal policing," he said. "The world has moved on very quickly in Northern Ireland."
Referring to British soldiers he simply said: "We don't need them any more. It suits us, it suits the military - they are very busy in other theatres of war."
Backing the assessment of senior British army figures, Sir Hugh said: "This place is very different now. It has never been a war, but what we have now is a situation where normal policing can continue."
His comments follow a political row over the decision by the British army to close its bases close to the Border and to centralise its bases closer to the main airports and ports.
However Lord Maurice Morrow, a Fermanagh Assembly member claimed the motive was not financial but political. "The troops in the army bases had to be put out of the Border areas because there was an assimilation programme carried out to make it so you wouldn't know if you are in Northern Ireland or the South," he said.
"Unionists have been intimidated out of their homes and there's been an ethnic cleansing programme which will continue in a different format. The first visible sign of that is the army bases being closed. It leaves unionists very vulnerable, feeling unwanted, unwelcome, isolated and marginalised."
The British army has significantly withdrawn from bases in south Armagh including Bessbrook and Crossmaglen while army headquarters at Thiepval Barracks near Lisburn is being expanded.
The British ministry of defence has said: "With a maximum permanent garrison of 5,000 troops the value for money consideration was centred around basing the troops in the most cost-effective manner. Factors considered were the quality of the living and working estate and the amount of investment required at each site to meet the different needs of the troops based there."
The ministry also claimed it was value for money to station soldiers near airports and ferry terminals. "The sites are geographically closer to the main air and sea ports which is advantageous for the movement of troops for the rest of the world deployments. The remaining sites which met the requirements happen to be located in the east of the province."
However the SDLP contradicted Lord Morrow, claiming there was no need for the British army anywhere near the Border, nor was there any ethnic cleansing.