Healey announces plan to end recruitment woes by axing acne and asthma restrictions

Potential recruits with acne or asthma will no longer be barred from serving in the Armed Forces, Defence Secretary John Healey has announced.

Mr Healey, who was speaking at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, said he was abandoning a number of "outdated" policies which had led to a recruitment crisis in the military.

An MOD briefing note from 2019 said those with severe acne should be graded unfit or be deferred until their acne had been treated before they could be allowed to join.

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The MOD said the condition might otherwise "affect the ability to wear military clothing or to operate military equipment".

And the British Army said if an individual required treatment to manage their asthma, they would "not be eligible".

But it did add that rules on asthma and other medical conditions were considered on a case-by-case basis when taken through an appeal process.

In addition to the lifting of these restrictions, Mr Healey also said the recruitment process would be sped up.

"You hear some say young people don’t want to serve their country," he said.

"I know this is wrong.

"Over the last 10 years, more than a million… applied to join the forces, but three in four gave up, just gave up on the process, because it takes months and it's tied up in red tape.

"So today I'm announcing the first steps to start to fix the Tory recruitment crisis."

Mr Healey said he was "setting new targets for the forces to reject or make a conditional offer within 10 days and to give people a training start date within 30 days".

He also announced plans to recruit computer gamers in a cyber defence role.

"I’m setting up a new direct route for cyber military recruits, because if you’re a top gamer or a coder, your country needs you," he said.

"And we will always maintain the highest standards and… we'll create an Armed Forces that draws the very best of Britain's talent.

"Better fit to fight, better reflecting the country they defend.

"So... this Labour Government will be a government that renews the nation's contract with those that serve and our veterans, that ensures defence helps boost the UK economy and that makes Britain secure at home and strong abroad.

"The public voted for it, Labour will deliver it, change has begun."