THE British Army is targeting Welsh teenagers as part of its recruitment campaign, according to Dwyfor Meirionnydd MP Liz Saville Roberts.

Mrs Saville Roberts has urged the Ministry of Defence to amend its recruitment strategy after it was revealed that the Army’s £3 million This is Belonging advertising campaign deliberately targeted 16 to 24-year-old ‘C2DEs’ – individuals in the lowest social and economic groups.

Mrs Saville Roberts and director of programmes for Child Soldiers International, Rachel Taylor, accuse the Westminster Government of preying on the most vulnerable people in society and for taking advantage of “their own failure” to create economic opportunities for young people and use deprivation as a tool to enlist new soldiers.

Plaid Cymru and Child Soldiers International recently held a joint event in Parliament highlighting the British Army’s recruitment campaigns and targeting of Welsh teenagers.

The event included discussions with British Army veteran Wayne Sharrocks, who enlisted aged 17, and Commodore Paul Branscombe CBE, former deputy controller of SSAFA Forces Help.

Research published by Child Soldiers International and ForcesWatch found that child recruits are more vulnerable to post-traumatic stress disorder, alcohol abuse, injury, self-harm, suicide and death during an armed forces career when compared to either their demographically matched civilian peers or adult recruits.

Despite this, the British Army has ramped up its recruitment campaign, specifically targeting younger people from low socio-economic backgrounds with limited opportunities, including teenagers in Wales, they say.

Through a series of Written Parliamentary Questions, Mrs Saville Roberts found that 35,160 16 to 24-year-olds enlisted as soldiers in 2017 following the £3m recruitment campaign.

The Armed Forces Minister confirmed that the Army recognises that “age, academic achievement and socio-economic profiles influence the attraction of candidates to the Army”.

Mrs Saville Roberts said: “The British Army has been utterly shameless in their persistent campaigns to recruit children into the armed forces to cover the perennial shortfalls in adult recruitment for the army’s least popular roles.

“We cannot keep turning a blind eye to this shameful practice. Soldiers enlisted at 16 are twice as likely to die on deployment compared to adults, and twice as likely to develop severe mental health problems in later years, yet the Westminster Government deliberately targets them, and the Welsh Government happily welcomes informal recruitment drives by the British Army in Welsh schools.”

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said claims the campaign targeted Welsh teenagers was ‘incorrect’, adding: “This national recruitment campaign is designed to reach out to a wide community, showing the opportunities a career in the army offers and helping to build a more diverse force.”