Racism (Hansard, 10 November 1997)

§ Dr. Reid

As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I have made clear on a number of occasions, it is our aim fully to embrace diversity in the Armed Forces and that they should better reflect the society they defend. We are determined both to provide a working environment that is free from any form of racial harassment or discrimination and to encourage more people from the ethnic minorities to join the Armed Forces. It has been made absolutely clear to all personnel, from all three Services, that we will not tolerate racism in the Armed forces and will be unremitting in our efforts to remove any racist attitudes, racially discriminatory practice, behaviour or language.

Changes in attitudes within the Services and perceptions outside will, of course, take time, but we are determined to make real progress in this area. The recent public launch by the Chief of the General Staff of the Army's revised Equal Opportunities Directive gave an unequivocal commitment to upholding the principle of Equality of Opportunity for all Army personnel.

Examples of the initiatives being pursued by the Army include: a booklet setting out a revised, and greatly simplified, complaints procedure designed to assist those exposed to harassment/discrimination, which will be issued to every soldier. The Naval Service and RAF plan to have similar booklets. a confidential support helpline service, effective from 1 December, which will be outside the chain of command; an independent Investigation Team to investigate complaints of harassment/discrimination; a new Ethnic Minorities Recruiting Team to help increase proportions of ethnic minorities serving.

The Chiefs of Staff in the Naval Service and the RAF are equally committed to ensuring equality of opportunity in their respective Services, a commitment exemplified by the success of The Royal Navy in being shortlisted by the British Diversity panel in recognition of its efforts to improve equal opportunities.

All three Services have introduced many initiatives to help combat and eliminate all forms of racism in, and to improve ethnic recruiting to the Armed Forces. Each Service has issued Equal Opportunities Directives and leaflets, which are issued to all servicing and new personnel, spelling out clearly what equal opportunities means, harassment and complaints procedures and their rights and responsibilities. These are supported by individual Service Equal Opportunities Action Plans which allow us to monitor our policies and practice to ensure there is no discrimination. They will also ensure that awareness of both ethnic origin and gender issues are considered when forming new policy and initiatives.

Each of the Services provide equal opportunities training for all new entrants, officers and NCOs promotion and management courses, Commanding 450W Officers, recruiters and equal opportunities advisers. We are looking at what more might be done on a tri-Service basis.

The Chief of Defence Staff, and the individual Service Chiefs have accepted the CRE's Leadership Challenge and have given their personal commitment to promote racial equality, together with taking practical steps to promote change within their own Services. In addition, each of the Services is a member of the Race for Opportunity scheme.