Army Would 'Reject Paula Radcliffe and Sir Chris Hoy On Medical Grounds'

The Army would reject marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe and former Olympian Sir Chris Hoy, on medical grounds as the pair would not pass the medical assessment under its current recruitment system, according to a former defence minister claims.

Conservative MP Mark Francois led calls in the Commons for a review of the contract with outsourcing giant Capita.

Mr Francois told MPs that large numbers of people were being failed on medical grounds for minor reasons every year, often for issues dating back to their childhood.

In the year to February 2017, 10,600 regular and reserve applications were rejected on medical grounds, Mr Francois said, while the regular Army was 3,000 recruits short over the same timeframe.

He told Labour's Kevan Jones:

"Is he aware that in some cases people have been failed for relatively minor asthma and stopped from joining the Army, when actually Paula Radcliffe and Sir Chris Hoy would have failed on the same grounds?"

Labour's Paul Sweeney, MP for Glasgow North East, added that a friend who had served in Afghanistan as a reservist was rejected on medical grounds when he attempted to rejoin the service, despite having no obvious injury.

More than 100,000 people tried to sign up to the Army last year but only 7,500 became soldiers, according to figures obtained by The Sun.

Mr Jones, also a former defence minister, said it was taking a year to recruit people and criticised the high rates of applications being failed.

"I've got to say, the Capita contract should be scrapped, because it is completely failing in delivering what was outlined."

The Ministry of Defence has spent more than £1 billion on recruitment for the armed forces in the past five years, according to figures obtained by the Press Association.

Cover image is of Paula Radcliffe after completing the London Marathon in 2015. Courtesy of PA.