Admiral Lord West of Spithead says he has 'some nervousness' about women serving in combat roles

'I want forces that can win'

"Women have one third less upper body strength”, Admiral Lord West of Spithead said (Richard Gardner/REX Shutterstock)

A former First Sea Lord and government minister has said he has “some nervousness” about women serving in close combat roles because he is worried it will undermine the strength of the military.

Speaking on Sky’s Murnaghan programme on 20 December, Admiral Lord West of Spithead said he was unsure about plans to have women in the infantry and the Royal Marines because they are not as strong as men.

He said that although he knew women are “very, very brave” he was not sure they should be in the situation where they “have to actually advance on the enemy, climb into a trench and fight and kill each other.”

"Not because there aren't some women who can do that but in general terms, when you are looking at averages, women have one third less upper body strength”, he explained.

"I want forces that can win. If you look at mixed rugby teams - why don't we have women in the England men's rugby team? Because actually they don't have the same size, power and all of these sort of things.”

He said the war in Afghanistan showed that the modern armed forces were still required to engage in hand to hand combat - “people were required to climb over walls and bayonet people and shoot people”.

He suggested they were more suited to backroom roles - “we have always been willing to let women die in wars and actually they are very competent, particularly at computer operating, they have longer concentration power than men."

It comes as Prime Minister David Cameron announced he has asked the Ministry of Defence to be ready to welcome women into close combat roles by the end of 2016.

Currently women are eligible for 80 per cent of armed forces roles and make up 10 per cent of the total military manpower.