MOD to spend £5m on actors

MEET the gang 'cos the boys are here, the boys to diversity train you

By Murdo MacLeod, Political Correspondent, Scotland on Sunday

Defence chiefs have caused widespread outrage with plans to spend £5m on actors to help spread the message of tolerance throughout the armed forces.

The 2008 version of It Ain't Half Hot Mum will visit military bases throughout the UK and abroad, performing self-penned sketches and plays on the theme of "equality and diversity".

But as evidence of over-stretch and under-equipping of British forces mounts, the move has been widely condemned by politicians and military insiders as a ridiculous waste of money.

Tragic losses blamed on equipment shortages include the death in Basra in 2003 of tank commander Sgt Steven Roberts, who handed over his body armour to a colleague shortly before he was shot. In 2006, the death in Afghanistan of paratrooper Captain James Philippson was partially blamed on shortages of night vision equipment and machine guns.

Despite the controversy, documents seen by Scotland on Sunday reveal the MoD has invited firms to bid for a contract worth up to £5m to provide "drama-based interventions" – sketches and plays – for equality and diversity training...

An MoD spokesman said: "They will be performing sketches and role-plays. The role-playing will involve getting members of the audience to come on stage and take part and help illustrate the points in the training. Studies have shown that drama and role-playing are very effective in communicating these kinds of messages and they work very well."

In an apparent reference to hecklers, the tender document adds that the actors should have "the flexibility to cater for a number of ad hoc interventions".

Dr Rachel Woodward, a researcher on military issues at Newcastle University, who has investigated attitudes to equality in the armed forces, said: "Several studies have shown that the armed forces do have problems which they have to deal with in terms of cultural attitudes, and to their credit they are recognising that. This is a very interesting and progressive move by them."

Douglas Young, chairman of the British Armed Forces Federation, said: "Equality and diversity are very important, especially at a time when the armed forces have problems with retention and really need everyone who is willing to serve.

"But we would question this use of £5m. Whoever decided this should really think again. This £5m will have to come out of an increasingly hard-pressed military budget, and when our forces are so stretched, many in the audiences will think that this money could have been much better spent."

Shadow secretary for defence, Dr Liam Fox, said: "With soldiers dying from lack of basic kit, spending £5m on a programme like this is outrageous. For the sake of our brave service members and their families, I think the MoD needs to seriously reconsider its priorities."

Clive Fairweather, former deputy commander of the SAS, said: "I have never heard of anything as ridiculous in my life, and I say this as someone who delivers training on equality and diversity, as well as being a former soldier. They could have had me for £50 a week.

"Equality and diversity training is important, but the rest of us can manage with an overhead projector. And the money for this is not coming out of a bottomless pit." ... 

Full story: Scotland on Sunday, 9 March 2008: MoD to spend £5m on actors