Armed Forces Recruitment A 'Staggering Failure', Labour Says

Recruitment numbers have fallen for eight consecutive years, putting the Army more than 3,500 below their 82,000-target (Picture: Crown Copyright).

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has been accused by Labour of a "staggering failure" in recruiting people to the armed forces.

Shadow Defence Secretary Nia Griffith asked the new Defence Secretary what would be done, in light of all three branches of the military having fewer personnel than this time last year.

Ms Griffith said Penny Mordaunt's predecessors "completely failed to get to grips with it".

Speaking in the Commons, Ms Griffith welcomed Ms Mordaunt to her new role and said she was looking forward to working together in areas of "clear consensus".

"One of those areas is personnel numbers", the Shadow Defence Secretary said.

"Every service is now smaller than it was at this time last year, the Army alone has seen a drop of 2,000 trained personnel, which is a staggering failure after all the promises we've heard at that despatch box.

"Her predecessors completely failed to get to grips with it, so what is she going to do differently to turn things around?"

In response, Ms Mordaunt pointed to the work being done by Armed Forces Minister Mark Lancaster "to increase recruitment and retention in our armed forces".

She said: "Part of it is also talking up and explaining what our armed forces do and I sincerely wish that more people followed the Honourable Lady's lead and did that and supported our armed forces, why they are important to society, why they are important to social mobility and everything this great nation stands for."