British Army still doesn’t have a single senior ethnic minority officer despite ‘drive’ for diversity in top brass

BRITAIN’S armed forces are failing in their pledge to recruit more black and Asian officers, new figures reveal.

Military chiefs admit not a single person from an ethnic minority has joined the senior ranks – despite a drive to make the top brass more inclusive.

All 133 of the most senior ranks, including generals, admirals and air chiefs, are occupied by white officers.

But the highest ranking senior black serviceman is a brigadier – and he is the only one.

Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon has told service chiefs that by 2020 at least ten per cent of all new recruits must come from a non-white background.

But MoD figures for 2016 show there has been no increase in recruitment from black and Asian communities.

Last night equalities campaigners described the figures as “extremely embarrassing” for the Army, Royal Navy and RAF.

Labour MP Kevan Jones, a former defence minister, said: “The armed forces need to reflect modern Britain.

"Without changes in the senior ranks, it will frustrate efforts to recruit more individuals from the ethnic minorities.”

Rebecca Hilsenrath, of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, added: “It is very disappointing that there are so few black and Asian men and women serving in the British armed forces.

“The military needs to do more to attract talent from all our communities – giving us the best chance of recruiting the most talented people for the job.”

Ethnic minorities make up just seven per cent of Britain’s armed forces, compared to 12 per cent of the nation’s workforce overall. But at officer level, it drops to just 2.4 per cent.

Out of 13,000 offices in the Army, only 100 are Asian and 60 are black, according to MoD diversity figures.

Of 7,000 officers in the Royal Navy, 20 are of ethnic origin, as are 75 out of 8,000 in the RAF.

By contrast there are dozens of ethnic Americans in the US Armed forces.

Colin Powell rose to become chairman of the Joints Chiefs, the most senior officer.

General Lloyd Austin was until April the head of the US Central Command and one of the most senior officers in the US Army.

An MoD spokesman said: “The Defence Secretary has made it clear we need to do better when it comes to ethnic minorities in our armed forces.

“That’s why we have committed to grow the proportion of new recruits from ethnic minority backgrounds to ten per cent by 2020.

“That isn’t about tokenism. It’s about attracting the brightest and the best.”