On a day when headlines are dominated by the ongoing migrant crisis across Europe, there is also widespread coverage of the Chinese government’s huge military parade through Beijing to commemorate Japan's Second World War defeat.
Army flexitime
The Daily Express reports in a short article that the Army is to trial flexitime in a drive to stop highly qualified women soldiers leaving the service. The piece states that other options being trialled include later parades to allow parents to drop children at school, evening and weekend work and part-time hours. The article claims that the trial will begin this month and contains comment from Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander in Afghanistan, saying that anything that can be done to try to retain these people should be looked at, but the difference between the Army and other walks of life is that the job requires 100% commitment.
General Sir Nick Carter, Chief of the General Staff, has previously outlined his plans for an inclusive Army through his Maximising Talent initiative.
He said last month:
Maximising talent is not just about women or gender or, for that matter, ethnic minorities. It’s actually about giving everybody the opportunity to maximise their potential. And that means it’s about culture, about career structure, but fundamentally it’s about an Army that gets the best possible deal out of all of the people it would like to employ.
It means we’ve perhaps got to have a slightly more open-minded approach to how we employ people. It means we’ve got to think hard, I think, about the balance between full and part time service, which may mean that legislation has to be revisited. It’s also about having a culture of inclusivity, and that’s important, which gets to the heart of the way in which we need to, perhaps, recondition people in leadership terms as well.
Afghan interpreters
The Daily Mail continues its coverage of Afghan interpreters, reporting that Labour leadership candidate Andy Burnham yesterday backed calls for the Government to do more to help them. Our ‘myth-buster’ on this issue outlines the Government’s policy.
Iran nuclear deal
The Guardian reports on the ‘victory’ for President Obama as he secured Senate support to pass the Iran nuclear deal. The article states this is a resounding defeat for efforts by the Republicans and the Israeli government to derail the agreement.
Syria
The Times reports that Russian forces are fighting alongside President Assad’s army, according to Syria’s government-run television station. A three-minute film shot by a militia loyal to Assad showed troops backed by an armoured vehicle that is among the most advanced in the Russian Army, a BTR-82A. It states that Russian voices were clearly audible in the video. The article states that the footage claimed to show government forces fighting advancing rebels in the Latakia mountains, in the heartland of Assad’s Alawite minority.
Chilcot inquiry
The Times carries a comment piece by Professor Christopher Elliott, author of High Command, where he writes that the relationship between Britain’s military high command and their political “masters” has often been a troubled one and how it reached a low point in the past decade during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He states that this is reportedly behind the delays in the publication of the Chilcot Inquiry report.
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