A former Royal Navy commander has said it should be the “best people” recruited to serve and defend the UK rather than a box-ticking exercise
Rear Admiral Chris Parry argued the reason why the army is currently facing a recruiting crisis is that ‘most of society is being alienated with ludicrous diversity and equality conventions.’
Speaking to GB News, the Royal Navy officer said: “We want the best people to serve our country. When I used to command sailors, marine soldiers and airmen, I used to say, ‘Look, you play at an international level for your country, that means you've got to be really good’.
“The best people don't join for the money. They join to serve their country. They like the idea of duty, honour and sacrifice. Those are the people we need to reach out to but at the moment, I'm afraid every single piece of transactional sort of legislation and transactional sort of convention is putting those people off.
“We can recruit enough people, but the trouble is we're putting people off joining the armed forces because the offer is not good enough to tell you the truth. And I'm afraid to say we're alienating most of society by trying to introduce absolutely ludicrous diversity and equality conventions.”
He added: “I do worry when a company that has consistently failed over two decades to actually help recruiting suggests we actually go out and recruit a wider pool suggests it's their commercial objectives that are driving things rather than strategic needs."
