Defence
secretary Philip Hammond's positive tone suggests the ban on women in combat
units will be lifted
Defence secretary Philip Hammond is considering allowing women to join British army combat units. Photograph: MoD/Crown Copyright/PA |
Defence
secretary Philip Hammond signalled that women will be eligible to serve in
combat roles in the British army for the first time.
The British
military has long resisted having women on the frontline, with one survey three
years ago dismissing the move on the grounds that women would be a distraction
to male soldiers.
But Hammond
announced that he had ordered a review, noting that the Americans, French,
Australians, Canadians and Israelis have women in combat roles.
Speaking at
a parliamentary press lunch, Hammond said he had been planning to leave the
review until the end of the year, after the withdrawal of troops from
Afghanistan, but decided to bring it forward after concluding that the lack of
women in combat roles sent the wrong signal about gender in the armed forces.
The
speeding up of the review combined with Hammond's positive tone suggests that
it is almost certain that the ban on women in combat units will be lifted.
He told
reporters that it may turn out that women might not have the physical strength
for combat duties. He had just returned from Afghanistan where troops on patrol
searching for hidden explosive devices regularly carried 63kg loads.
The point,
Hammond said, was that the criteria for combat should be physical fitness, not
gender.
The US
ended its ban on women serving in combat roles in the marines and army in
January.
Hammond
said his review would look at whether women could serve in the infantry and the
armoured corps.
There was
no resistance on the part of senior military staff, with the only concern over
physical fitness.
"I
think that at a time when the Americans, the Australians, the Canadians, even
the French – the Israelis of course for years – have women in their combat arms
this is something we have to look at again," he said.
"Not
because there are thousands of women desperate to join the combat arms, but
because the message that the Army is not fully open to women who can meet the
fitness and other requirements – the message that sends to women who might be
looking to join other parts of our military."
Shadow
defence secretary Vernon Coaker welcomed the review."We should be proud of
the role played by women in our armed forces. Many of them already serve on the
front line as medics, engineers, intelligence officers, fighter pilots and
submariners," Coaker said.
"The
armed forces should give the same opportunities to women as it does to men and
this move will hopefully ensure that becomes the case."
In a
separate move, Hammond for the first time said that Scottish independence would
mean the removal of the Trident base at Faslane on the Clyde as well as the
Coulport base in Argyll. He put an estimate on this for the first time, saying
it would cost billions of pounds.
His comment
is a departure from the normal British government line that there is no
contingency planning for Scottish independence because the government claims it
does not anticipate such a move.
Hammond
said that the shift from Faslane and Coulport would take a decade, in contrast
to the Scottish government which said it could be completed by 2015. Asked
about the discrepancy, Hammond said timing would be a matter for negotiation.
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