Member

I thoroughly approve of removing the artificial barrier between the reserves and the regulars—I speak as a reservist and as somebody who perhaps in the past might have had a greater interest in that than I do now. The Haythornthwaite review of armed forces incentivisation is made flesh by the some of the measures in the Bill, in particular zig-zag careers and the ability to move from one part of defence to another and back again. It is complete madness that people have to leave, going through the rigmarole of filling out the forms that were mentioned by the hon. Member for Leyton and Wanstead (Mr Bailey), who is no longer in his place, and the medical and all the rest of it. It makes no sense, it is hugely wasteful and it puts people off, encouraging them simply to leave.