PM Pressed On Armed Forces Recruitment And Skills Gaps

The Prime Minister has insisted the Government is "recruiting people with the skills that our armed forces need" as a Labour MP claimed the Conservative Party had made another "broken promise" over military recruitment and retention.

Derek Twigg (Halton) raised the issue of armed forces under-staffing during Prime Minister's Questions as he asked Theresa May "What's gone wrong?".

Mr Twigg said: "The (National Audit Office) report today says our armed forces are 8,200 people below their current requirement. The numbers leaving the armed forces has increased and there are significant shortfalls in critical skills.

"But in their 2017 manifesto, the Tory Party and the Prime Minister said we will attract and retain the best men and women for our armed forces. Isn't this just another broken promise? What's gone wrong?"

Mrs May replied: "Can I say to him that we do, of course, want to ensure (that) particularly that we are recruiting people with the skills that our armed forces need.

"Of course as we look at the modernising defence programme, we are looking at the capabilities that we require in order to defend this country and face the threats that we face, and that will also involve looking at the particular skills that are necessary."

Earlier this week, Whitehall's spending watchdog warned that Britain's armed forces were significantly under-staffed in critical areas such as intelligence and engineering.

A report published by the National Audit Office (NAO) stated that, as of January this year, the country's full-time military was operating at 5.7% below the current target.

With more than 8,200 regulars needed to meet the requirement, the NAO highlighted that this is the "largest gap in a decade".

The NAO stressed that alongside the gap in personnel numbers across the Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force, there are "much larger shortfalls in critical skills".