EXPOSED: Army insider blows whistle on ‘woke ideology’ infecting Britain’s forces - ‘meritocracy wins wars, not DEI’

Trump’s controversial measures put Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is keen to avoid US tariffs but is also ‘fully committed’ to the defence of Ukraine, on a diplomatic tightrope.

A bounce in the polls has reflected many commentators’ views Starmer has achieved considerable success in his balancing act, rallying behind Ukraine with a fresh £2.6bn loan and leading a ‘coalition of the willing’ whilst avoiding US-Anglo tariffs.

One of Starmer’s most eye-catching announcements has been his repeated willingness to put ‘boots on the ground’ in Ukraine, namely as a peacekeeping force with other European forces with US backing.

But the announcement has been widely critiqued by ex-Army chiefs as folly due to the meagre size, preparedness and morale of Britain’s Armed Forces.

Ex-generals like Lord Dannatt and former Defence Secretaries like Ben Wallace have publicly decried the ‘hollowing out’ of British Forces over the last few decades.

They say only around 20,000 soldiers could be deployed to Ukraine presently, a pitiful number in the face of Russia’s 1.5million active-duty troops.

Underfunding, poor recruitment, a retention crisis, a bloated Ministry of Defence, waste and mismanagement of resources, cumbersome procurement and low morale have all been raised as issues.

But there is another major issue which underpins many of topics the above, woke ideology.

In the first of three parts examining issues affecting Britain’s Forces, we will focus on the spreading of woke ideology and its damaging effects on our defensive capabilities.

One senior soldier, whose identity can’t be revealed for security reasons, told GB News how woke ideology is not only a waste of badly needed resources, but also depresses morale, can inadvertently lead to division, and affects our fighting ability for the worse.

“It’s exasperating the number of hours I have wasted on various online ‘training packages' on DEI topics,” said David Smith (not his real name).

“They bear no resemblance to the core purpose of the job, protecting the nation from our enemies.

“It is not only the time wasted but also the amount of money. ‘Learning packages’ are being sold to the MOD when actually we need weapons, missiles, tanks and updated 21st century equipment, which is in short supply.

“At a time when the budget is so stretched you would think that there would be somebody scrutinising the costs and removing all of the non-value items whilst prioritising the essentials- a little like a household budget plan.

“They should be asking ‘what we can do without to ensure that we have the essentials to operate?'”

Smith, who has completed several tours of duty across the world, looked to Ukraine for inspiration for Britain’s Ministry of Defence.

“I am certain that the Ukrainians are not channelling money into more civil servants supporting DEI,” he said.

“They are operating on a war footing where the main and only focus is training people to fight and secure their futures.

“In the UK the military cupboard is bare, our trainees do not have equipment, ammunition and more importantly modern battle winning technology.

“More time needs to be spent learning the lessons of 21st century conflict, which are being played out in Ukraine, rather than prioritising this woke ‘ideology’ of individual rights.”

It comes after GB News exposed yet more Diversity, Equality and Inclusion civil service jobs being advertised by the MoD last week.

The MoD is currently recruiting a ‘Diversity and Inclusion Learning and Development Professional’ on £38,790pa and a ‘Culture and Inclusion Lead’ on £36,530pa.

This is £12,000 more than a British Army soldier’s starting salary of £25,200pa and just £1,500 less than an officer’s starting salary of £39,671pa.

Both jobs come with an enormous employer pension contribution of 28.97 per cent meaning taxpayers will be funding £11,243.46 per year into the pension pot of each job.

Both jobs offer work from home and there is no contractual requirement to attend the office at all.

Smith then outlined how, in his opinion, the championing of DEI actually leads to division, reduces fairness and lowers morale.

"In my opinion DEI does not improve inclusivity but actually brings about division and reduces fairness, particularly for white, working-class males.

“It’s not always obvious, but by celebrating everyone else all the time, white, working-class men can start to feel undervalued, and they make up the bulk of the Army.

“Their morale should be an absolute priority.”

Smith then highlighted physical performance standards as an example of how woke ideology is damaging the effectiveness of our Army.

“Performance standards in the Army have been changed to ensure a standard equal to both sexes but, in doing so, it has lowered the physical standards for men whilst increasing them for women.

“This has effectively made it easier for men and harder for women, thus contradicting the aim and resulting in a greater bias towards men reaching the standards.

“Counterintuitively, this also puts off high calibre men from joining the forces, who are looking for a challenge, without seeing a real increase in the number of women.

“It is also worth considering what is currently happening in the US, as their administration has ditched DVI, there has been an immediate surge in their military recruiting numbers.”

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The US Army had been missing recruitment targets by 25 per cent in recent years, but latest figures show numbers have risen to a fifteen-year high, enlisting 350 people a day.

Commentators have out this down to the Trump affect, ie a rise in American patriotism after Trump ‘restored pride’ in joining the US Army after it spent too much time focusing on DEI, climate change and other woke ideologies.

“Meritocracy wins wars, not diversity and inclusion,” commented Smith.

The expose comes as major warning to British MoD officials that continuing to force woke ideology onto the Army will affect its ability to fight in a war with Russia.

The British Army is projected to dip below 70,000 this year, meaning the entire force could fit inside Wembley with 20,000 seats to spare.

Russia, who have been at war for three years, has 1.5million active-duty soldiers, 21.5 times more than the UK.

Another area Russia dwarves Britain is defence spending. Putin spends 7.1 per cent of its GDP on defence, while Starmer will spend 2.5 per cent by the end of this year, almost three times less.

An MOD spokesperson said: "Our Armed Forces are amongst the best in the world and respected worldwide for their professionalism and excellence.

“We want the broadest talent and skills in our Armed Forces and we are committed to recruiting and retaining the best talent.”