THE government will remove the need for Commonwealth citizens to have lived in Britain for five years before applying to join the armed services, it announced yesterday.

The move shows how desperate the government is to meet its recruitment targets, a peace campaigner told the Star.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) hopes that about 1,350 foreign nationals will bolster Britain armed forces every year. Previously, the recruitment of non-resident citizens of countries such as India, Australia, Canada and Fiji was capped at 200 per year.

Symon Hill of the Peace Pledge Union said that the change is the latest desperate attempt by the MoD in its failure to meet its targets while pursuing “misleading campaigns” to entice more women, working class, LGBT and young people to apply.

In January, the army launched a £1.6 million advertising campaign intended to encourage more people from different backgrounds, genders, sexualities and faiths to join up.

Mr Hill said: “What they need to do, despite targeting working-class men and women, and despite army leaks showing that the MoD is targeting the poorest parts of the country for recruitment, is start asking why so few people want to sign up to an organisation based in violence and hierarchy.

“I’m confident that this latest development will not lead them to meet their targets.”

The rule change further exposes the government’s hypocrisy in wanting to reduce immigration while now opening the gates because it suits its agenda, he added.

The army will lift the recruitment restrictions for Commonwealth citizens from early next year, while the navy and RAF will do so immediately.

Other than the Nepalese Gurkhas and applicants from Ireland, who can enrol under a special arrangement, applicants from outside the Commonwealth will still need British citizenship.

In April, a National Audit Office (NAO) report said the full-time military had a 5.7 per cent personnel shortfall.

An extra 8,200 regulars were needed to fill the “largest gap in a decade,” the public-spending watchdog’s report said, with engineers, intelligence analysts and pilots particularly lacking.

The NAO is carrying out a review of army recruitment, including a contract with outsourcing firm Capita. There have been calls for the firm to be stripped of the contract over the personnel shortfalls.