Grant Shapps ramps up demands to bolster Britain's military might

When we declared that nowhere in Defence should be closed to women, we gained access to that half of this country’s talent previously closed to us.

From submarine warfare officers to fighter pilots and tank commanders, women have found their place on the front line. Defence is the better for it.

We currently have 2 female admirals, 4 generals and 3 air marshals. More talent is coming up in the feeder group.

The aspiration is that 30% of our Armed Forces intake should be women by 2030. It’s really ambitious but to have any chance of getting close we plainly need to make Defence as attractive as we can to women.

That’s not woke. What it is, is making reasonable adjustments to our ways and working practices to capitalise on fifty percent of the workforce at a time when we are struggling, like everybody else, to recruit and retain.

We’ve made a decent start, recognising the particular pressures in life that women shoulder.

We have brought in Wraparound childcare, started on flexible working and begun providing uniforms designed for women instead of making them wear what amounts to men’s clothing.

When I started in defence four decades ago few male leaders would ever have considered women’s health as an operational issue, or at all. Now things like the provisions for menstruation and menopause are discussed without embarrassment.

But whilst there has undoubtedly been significant cultural change - which happily continues - we still have to deal with antediluvian attitudes and, on occasion, inappropriate conduct of a small minority.

Some of those have felt the full force of a zero tolerance approach to Unacceptable Sexual Behaviour. 

It is our duty to ensure that we listen to victims and deal with transgressors. This is not only a legal obligation,it is key to morale and retention, recruitment, and operational effectiveness.

Twelve months ago we launched our Victim Witness Care Unit to provide better support within the Service Justice System to victims and witnesses of serious crime.

It is a central point of contact for both serving Armed Forces and civilian personnel, that is fully independent from the chains of command of the Navy, Army and Air Force.

Its mission is to provide comprehensive support for victims of serious crime committed by persons subject to service law in the UK and overseas.

It puts the interests of victims and witnesses at the heart of investigations, and in its first year its team of victim liaison officers have supported more than 560 people at home or on duty abroad.

The Unit is an important component of a much wider cultural change underway across the Ministry and all three Services. We have stood up the Defence Serious Crime Command based near Portsmouth -  our first ever independent global Service Police Force,  and women  now sit on all court martial boards.

I want everyone – including my two serving daughters - to feel at home, at work. I want them to feel  fully supported and valued so they can  fulfil their full potential.

Their potential is our potential.