The British army has been accused of bowing to political correctness after launching a campaign to recruit more people from a diversity of genders, sexualities, ethnicities and faiths.
It has also been criticised for appearing to mislead recruits by suggesting the army offers help for those with mental health problems.
In a series of animations released on social media, the campaign positively answers questions such as “Can I be gay in the army?” and “What if I get emotional in the army?”.
Other videos in the £1.6m campaign ask: “Can I practise my faith in the army?”, “Will I be listened to in the army?”, and “Do I have to be a superhero to join the army?”
Reem Abu-Hayyeh, a peace and security campaigner at the charity Medact, said that if the army was genuinely concerned about soldiers’ mental health it would stop recruiting under-18s.
“It is a positive step that the armed forces are thinking about how to be more inclusive and show that soldiers’ emotional health is a priority,” she said. “However, our research shows that young people recruited to the military are at higher risk of post-traumatic stress, self-harm and suicide.
“The UK is one of very few countries that still recruits 16-year-olds into the armed forces. The best way for the forces to protect young people is not to recruit under-18s at all.”
Wayne Sharrocks, a former soldier who is now a member of the Peace Pledge Union, said: “Brutal physical punishments are common. Fear of questioning orders is instilled early on, while the army uses sophisticated techniques to remove the aversion to killing. All this has negative impacts on soldiers’ mental health.”
Gen Nick Carter, the chief of the general staff, said the army needed to change how it recruited and looked after trainees. Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he denied claims that the “This is belonging 2018” campaign showed the army had “gone soft”.
“We are getting new types of applicant, that’s why we need to adjust the approach we are using to how we nurture them into the army,” he said. “This campaign is a recognition that we don’t have a fully manned army at the moment, that the demography of our country has changed, and that we need to reach out to a broader community in order to man that army with the right talent.
“Our tradition cohort would have been white, male, Caucasian 16- to 25-year-olds, and there are not as many of those around as there once were. It is entirely appropriate for us therefore to try and reach out to a much broader base to get the talent we need in order to sustain that combat effectiveness.”
However, retired colonel Richard Kemp, a former commander of British operations in Afghanistan, said the campaign would not solve the army’s recruitment problem.
“The army, like the rest of government, is being forced down a route of political correctness,” he told BBC Breakfast. “What is most important is that the army is full of soldiers. It is of secondary importance that they reflect the composition of society.”
He claimed that what attracted recruits was images of fighting. “The main group of people who are interested in joining aren’t worried so much about whether they are going to be listened to … they are going to be attracted by images of combat.”
Retired major general Tim Cross said he was in favour of recruiting from a broader base to boost numbers, but stressed they must be able to deliver high-intensity fighting power.
He told Today: “We must ensure that everybody knows that they have an opportunity of joining the British armed forces, and joining the army in particular, but we are not going to be soft and we are not going to be nice to people.”
