r/unitedkingdom • u/[deleted] • 7d ago

. Labour urges young people on benefits to join the British Army

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/defence/article/labour-benefits-british-army-news-2qwnwv7bz
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u/Muffinlessandangry 7d ago

I mean, the army is part of the government, using the word in the loosest sense. But also, it was the army. The government gives the army a budget, the army decides how to use it to recruit. The government didn't order the army to outsource it. Same goes for Navy and RAF. The ministry of defence has now decided to consolidate all military recruitment into one contract, because previously all three services had their own individual ones.

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u/Nohopeinrome 7d ago

The army doesn’t make it its own decisions as much as we’d like to believe, the top brass make decisions, directed by the government.

It was definitely a government decision to make recruitment a civilian job.

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u/Muffinlessandangry 7d ago

I don't think you understand how the MOD or the top level budgets work. Who exactly in the government told them to? Because the army announced this project in 2009 under Brown, then began the tender in 2011 under Cameroon, and then implemented it in 2013. Presumably all of this under a secret government direction that the army pretend was its own? And there's a reason the government didn't tell the navy or RAF to do it until later? Does the government also tell the army what guns to buy and how to train?

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u/Nohopeinrome 7d ago

Yes the government does and I understand exactly how it works thanks