UK forces have more diversity officers than warships

THE MINISTRY of Defence is jeopardising the UK's military capability by prioritising its "woke" agenda over the need for effective armed forces, a think tank chief has said after it was revealed UK forces now have more diversity officers than warships.

Robert Oulds offered his scathing analysis after it emerged the Ministry was looking to appoint a diversity and inclusion director to a £110,000-a-year position - more than an Army colonel who commands a battalion of 800 soldiers would earn. 

Veterans minister Johnny Mercer, responding to a question by Neill O'Brien MP last week, told Parliament there were 44 civil servants in the MoD and its executive agencies who had the words "diversity and equality in their job titles".

Aside from two aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, plus 11 submarines, the Royal Navy operates just 13 frigates and six destroyers.

Earlier this month, former First Sea Lord, Baron West of Spithead, said he believed the Royal Navy was now spread too thin to do the job most people in the UK thought it was capable of.

He also suggested the Integrated Defence Review being spearheaded by Dominic Cummings was little more than a cost-cutting exercise.