Army Recruitment

We have been very clear in the strategic defence review that we are committed to growing the Army. Under this Government, we have driven improvements to the recruiting process, stripping out outdated medical policies, reducing the time it takes to receive candidate medical records and widening cross-Government data sharing. The Army is now sending conditional offers of employment within 10 days and provisional training start dates to eligible candidates within 30 days. Those measures, alongside targeted recruiting and a restructuring of the Army’s recruiting organisation, are delivering results. Year on year, the Army’s soldier intake numbers are up by 13% and officer numbers are up by 10%.

I share the Minister’s concerns over Army recruitment. Could she please explain to me why a young person would even consider a job in the armed forces if they may get a knock on the door in 50 years’ time to be charged with an offence when they were simply doing their duty?

I would like to reassure the hon. Gentleman that serving in the armed forces is a fantastic career for any young person. The experiences and skills that one can gain from a career in the armed forces are second to none; I for one am deeply grateful for all the opportunities I had when I served, and I would urge all young people to consider such a career. I assure the hon. Gentleman that this Government are committed to renewing the contract with those who serve. As a veteran, I can assure him that our No. 1 priority is to defend and protect those who serve this nation.

I take this opportunity to thank you, Mr Speaker, for the remembrance service we had this morning. It was hugely emotional, and made me think of those from my constituency who gave their lives for our freedom 80 years ago. What will my hon. and gallant Friend the Minister do to continue to champion the servicemen and women who protect this country? We should celebrate all of them, no matter their ethnicity, religion or nationality.

My hon. Friend is right that we must celebrate everybody who contributes to our armed forces, no matter their gender or other protected characteristics. The commitment of this Government to protecting and serving those who serve this nation is total.

I call the shadow Minister.

As General Lord Dannatt, the former Chief of the General Staff, said at the weekend,

“if potential recruits to our Armed Forces do not believe that their government will stand by them when performing their duties in a lawful manner, why risk joining at all?”

He was speaking about Labour’s new Northern Ireland Troubles Bill, which could see Northern Ireland veterans, without whom there would never have been a Good Friday agreement in the first place, in the dock again by next year. The Minister called opponents of this “naive”. What is her response to the former head of the British Army and the brave soldiers he led—were they all naive, too?

Seeing as the right hon. Gentleman is attacking me for something I did not say, I can only assume that he cannot attack me—

It’s in Hansard!

He is very welcome to check Hansard, where he will see that I was very specifically referring to people spreading misinformation. He will be able to see it there in black and white in Hansard.

It is in Hansard.

It is in Hansard, absolutely—I urge the right hon. Gentleman to reread it to see the full quote.

This Government are committed to protecting those who serve. Our first and foremost priority is to protect and ensure the welfare of those who have served, just as we have done for many people who have served in our armed forces across multiple conflicts. I can only say again that the commitment of this Government to our veterans is total.

The former Labour Security Minister Lord West said recently that we “shouldn’t be doing” this. Lord Glasman, the founder of Blue Labour, said:

“We must reverse it as soon as possible.”

The hon. Member for Blackley and Middleton South (Graham Stringer) said that

“to continue this against one side makes no sense.”

With a Labour rebellion clearly brewing, and given that many Northern Ireland veterans were initially recruited from red wall seats, why are Labour Ministers insisting on driving their Back Benchers into the Division Lobby just to do Sinn Féin and their old comrades in the IRA a favour?

I urge the right hon. Gentleman to remember the really serious issues that are at stake here. The priorities of this Government, as we have shown repeatedly, are to do right by the families of more than 200 British service personnel who were murdered in Northern Ireland and to ensure that we have protections and appropriate measures in place to defend our veterans; we have five protections in law and a sixth that we have control over ourselves. I can assure the right hon. Gentleman again that the Government’s commitment to veterans is total.

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

May I begin by associating myself and my party with the sentiments reflected by the Secretary of State about the terrible events in Huntingdon at the weekend?

The Secretary of State’s ambition to reverse the outflows from our armed forces is absolutely right, particularly considering the damage the last Government did to our military, but it is far from clear that the Government are doing enough to achieve the necessary changes. There continue to be more service personnel leaving the Army year on year than are joining. In order to strengthen our defence, we need to give more people better incentives to join the armed forces. Will the Minister consider accelerating recruitment properly and tackling outflow rates by backing Liberal Democrat proposals for a £10,000 signing bonus to attract new recruits?

In addition to the measures I have outlined to speed up recruitment, we are looking at expanding novel ways of entry into the armed forces, such as direct entry in the cyber stream. We are hugely focused on retention, and this is a very personal mission for me, having left the forces in 2020 and knowing what measures might have helped retain me in service for longer. We are utterly dedicated to addressing the reasons that people give for leaving, not least with our multibillion-pound investment into fixing forces housing.