Defence Select Committee exchange on ethnic minority representation

This week in the Defence Select Committee, I spoke about the incredible work of our local Air Cadets here in Leyton and Wanstead - young people from every background learning skills, teamwork and service.

They are representative of modern Britain, but our armed forces still aren’t.

The Ministry of Defence has more to do. Women and ethnic minorities remain underrepresented, even though young people want to serve - despite what some headlines might suggest. The recruitment process is still too cumbersome, and outreach doesn’t go far enough.