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| Army to review female close combat roles | Army to review female close combat roles |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A review of the possibility of women taking "close combat" roles in the UK's armed forces has been brought forward, the government has announced. | |
| Currently women can serve on the front line but not where the primary aim is to "close with and kill the enemy". | Currently women can serve on the front line but not where the primary aim is to "close with and kill the enemy". |
| Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said the review had been brought forward, with head of the Army now due to report back by the end of the year. | Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said the review had been brought forward, with head of the Army now due to report back by the end of the year. |
| The rules were due to be reviewed in 2018, the Ministry of Defence said. | The rules were due to be reviewed in 2018, the Ministry of Defence said. |
| Announcing the review - which will be carried out by Chief of the General Staff Sir Peter Wall - Mr Hammond said he wanted to send a signal that the military is open" to all who can meet the necessary standards" to carry out demanding roles. | |
| Currently women are not permitted to serve in the infantry or armoured corps where they could be involved in close combat. | |
| Mr Hammond said the armed forces still had a "macho image" and said that although the reality is very different he wanted to send a signal that the army is open to all who can meet the required standards. | |
| "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. | |
| He added: "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. " | |
| The Ministry of Defence is required under European law to review its policy every eight years. | |
| The last review in 2010 raised concerns that having men and women in small units for months at a time could undermine "team cohesion". | |
| The review has been welcomed by Labour's shadow defence secretary, Vernon Coaker, who said the UK "should be proud of the role played by women in our armed forces". | |
| "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," he said. |