Defence Secretary backing beards and brands Army's current policy ridiculous
The clean-shaven Defence Secretary has waded into the debate on beards in the British Army firmly on the side of facial hair, describing the current restrictions as "ridiculous and outdated".
Grant Shapps said in an interview with The Times that the UK had to modernise and not remain attached to outdated rules and traditions.
"The Armed Forces get terribly pernickety about whether people have beards or not. Nowadays people have beards," said Mr Shapps.
"How is it we are still struggling with recruitment and then arbitrarily saying you can't join [if you grow a beard)] It is ridiculous. It is time to modernise," he insisted.
When asked if he would change the rules, he said: "It is certainly a discussion that I think the Army themselves should be having."
He also pointed out that many modern armies were perfectly capable of operating effectively without such rules.
British soldiers have been banned from growing beards since the 19th century.
Mr Shapps' comments came after General Sir Patrick Sanders, Chief of the General staff, and the MOD agreed to look at the service's beard policy to understand whether there were any potential benefits to the recruitment and retention of personnel.
The British Army is yet to decide if any of the rules will be changed. However, the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force both allow beards.
In 2021, the British Army's most senior soldier WO1 Paul Carney told Forces News his opinion on the potential for changes to the beard policy.
He said: "I think we need to continue to have the discussions, we need to continue to modernise and stay in line with society.
"But we also need to remember we're a uniformed organisation. What we ask of our people is so much more than what many civilians will ever be asked of."
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