A bid to raise the British armed force’s minimum age of recruitment to 18, which would have had major repercussions for Harrogate’s Army Foundation College, has failed.
Carol Monaghan, the Scottish National Party’s spokesperson for the armed forces, attempted to introduce a clause in the Armed Forces Bill preventing 16 and 17-year-olds enlisting in the army. Anyone under the age of 18 in the UK is legally classified as a child.
The Harrogate college, which recruits about 1,500 young men and women each year, is the only British army establishment that delivers military training to junior soldiers aged 16 and 17.
The Army Foundation College in Harrogate.
Monaghan said raising the recruitment age to 18 would bring Britain in line with most of its NATO allies.
She added the United Nations convention on the rights of the child has urged the UK to increase its minimum recruitment age to 18.
Speaking at a public bill committee, which is a cross-bench committee examining the bill, she said:
“If we are to safeguard the wellbeing, development, educational opportunities and physical safety of our young people, it is crucial that we change the minimum age for armed forces recruitment to 18.”
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Monaghan added a third of 16 and 17-year-old recruits dropped out and “re-enter the civilian world without immediate access to further employment, training and education”. Many, she added, were from economically deprived areas.
While 16 and 17-year-olds cannot serve on the frontline, recruitment at the ages of 16 and 17 is detrimental to international efforts to end the use of children in military settings.”
Kevan Jones, Labour MP for North Durham, said people campaigning for a ban on under-18s were wrong to “draw an analogy between what the army does and the situation of child soldiers around the world”.
He added concerns about welfare needed to be balanced against the opportunities presented to 16 to 17-year-olds recruits, adding:
“I suggest that anyone who wants to see the positive way individuals can and do improve their lives visits the Army Foundation College in Harrogate.
“On my visits there, what appalled me was the fact that the education system had failed individuals, but the army had given them a second chance with raising basic numeracy and literacy skills.
“Individuals who would possibly not have had an opportunity to have a fulfilled career were able to do so through the work undertaken at the Army Foundation College.”
Defence minister Johnny Mercer told the debate the government took its duty of care to entrants aged under 18 “extremely seriously”. He added:
“Close attention has been given to this subject in recent years, especially after the tragic deaths at Deepcut.
“We have robust, effective and independently verified safeguards in place to ensure that under-18s are cared for properly.”
The committee voted against the clause by nine votes to two.
Eight Conservatives and one Labour MP voted against; two SNP MPS voted in favour.
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