Despite previous recruitment issues, the Earl of Minto told the House of Lords that ‘applications are well up’ (Picture: MOD)
More than 10,000 people applied to join the British Army in January, a defence minister has revealed.
During a debate about military National Service, Timothy Lariston Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound The Earl of Minto told the House of Lords that “applications have been well up in the last few months”.
The Conservative peer said: “We had more than 10,000 applications for regular soldiers in January; there were 53,000 applications in the period from June 2021 to 2022 and just shy of 70,000 from June 2022 to 2023”.
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The Earl of Minto went on to say: “My Lords, the way we address the threat is a constantly changing situation.
“Whether through procurement or through individual members of the forces, there is a constant ratio of training, retraining and readdressing the threat.”
He went on to say: “I really believe that we have the right quality of forces in place. We know that we do not have as many as we had planned, and there are some prevalent recruitment issues.
“Encouragingly, applications have been well up in the last few months.”Play VideoWatch: Defence Secretary admits proposed military housing policy is ‘problematic’
The debate on National Service follows on from the head of the British Army’s comments, suggesting that Britain should train and equip a “citizen army” to prepare the country for a potential land war with Russia.
Only last month the Defence Secretary said applications to join the Armed Forces have increased, amid rising tensions around the globe.
Grant Shapps said the Royal Navy had received an eight-year high in applications, while the British Army had seen a six-year high.
He also stated that the Royal Air Force was experiencing an increase in potential recruits.
At the time, Mr Shapps did not put a number on the applications received, but his hopes of “making progress” on recruitment come after warnings that military personnel are leaving faster than they can be replaced.
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