'Lack of a war' blamed for Army recruitment failure: Outrage over comments made by chief of company responsible for employing new soldiers

The boss of the company responsible for Army recruitment sparked outrage last night after claiming it failed to sign up enough soldiers because of Britain 'not having any wars on'.
Paul Pinder, the chief executive of Capita which has a £400m Ministry of Defence contract to recruit full and part-time soldiers, made the remark as he was grilled by MPs on his failure to hit targets.
He was immediately accused of 'disrespecting' 6,000 service personnel currently battling the Taliban in Afghanistan and those killed and maimed on the frontline during the 12-year conflict.

Paul Pindar, chief executive of Capita, has been accused of 'disrespecting' 6,000 service personnel currently battling the Taliban in Afghanistan

Just two weeks ago father-of-two Sergeant Major Ian Fisher, 42, of the 3rd Battalion the Mercian Regiment, died in a suicide blast in Helmand.
Mr Pinder was being questioned by the Public Accounts Committee on why Capita was failing to meet recruitment targets despite being paid huge sums of taxpayers' money.
He said: 'I'm not being flippant when saying this, but we actually have the disadvantage of not having any wars on.

'Soldiers like to join the Army when there's actually something for them to do. It's actually true.'
Committee chairman Margaret Hodge said: 'That was awful. It's a kick in the teeth to the soldiers on the ground in Afghanistan.'
Mr Pinder last year received £2million in pay and perks compared to the £17,000 salary of a new Army private was roundly criticised last night.

Killed: Ian Fisher, from the 3rd Battalion The Mercian Regiment (Staffords), who died in Helmand two weeks ago

Sergeant Major Fisher was deployed with his company on a two-day operation when a vehicle-borne suicide attack was launched

Madeleine Moon, of the Defence Select Committee, said: 'This is a pathetic and offensive attempt to excuse his company's failure to recruit service personnel.
'It is insulting to all of the service personnel who have served and are serving our country on a variety of settings around the world.'
Colonel Richard Kemp, who commanded British troops in Afghanistan, said: 'For the chief executive of the company that is responsible for recruiting for the Army not to realise we are today fighting a war which has seen some of the most intense battles since World War 2 and in which 446 soldiers have been killed is quite extraordinary and raises further questions about the viability of Capita in this role.'
A serving military officer who has fought in Helmand said: 'This is thoroughly disrespectful. His company is in charge of recruiting for the Army - it's astonishing he isn't aware we have thousands of personnel risking their lives on the frontline.'
The Ministry of Defence privatised Army recruitment in April. The ten-year deal was supposed to free 1,000 soldiers from recruitment roles and enable them to return to frontline duties.
But problems in installing and using a secure computer system meant Capital had suffered problems in drafting new soldiers.
In the first four months of its contract, Capita sent 3,259 potential troops to Army selection interviews, compared with 5,042 the previous year.
Only 195 would-be officers were recruited compared to 379 a year earlier.
And 367 potential Territorial Army troops were recruited by Capita against a target of 1,432.
The row broke out as the Defence Secretary narrowly avoided a humiliating Commons defeat over controversial plans to replace full-time troops with Army reservists.
Defence secretary Philip Hammond came under fire is axing the number of regular soldiers from 102,000 to 82,000 while doubling the number of part-time troops to 30,000 to save money.
Tory rebels, spearheaded by former infantry officer John Baron, had tabled an amendment urging ministers to halt the shake-up.
Mr Baron said: 'Things are not going well, recruitment targets for reservists are being badly missed, Territorial Army numbers are falling and there is a widening capability gap as a result.'
His plot was backed by Labour and the DUP. Shadow defence secretary Vernon Coaker said: 'If we don't get it right we are taking risks with this country's defence and security.'
But Mr Hammond said the amendment would halt the process of recruiting reservists, sending 'completely the wrong signal to those thinking of joining the reserves'.
He said it would 'hit morale among the existing reserve forces and make future recruitment a much more difficult task.'
The rebel amendment was defeated by 306 votes to 252, Government majority 54.