British Army is rejecting 200 applicants a day despite troop numbers falling to their lowest since Napoleon

• Britain's army has dwindled to 75,000 full-time trained soldiers — its lowest strength since the Napoleonic era — yet around 74,000 applicants were turned down in 2024-25, a rise of 20,000 on the previous year, as the service struggles to meet its annual intake target of 11,000 replacements for those who leave. Medical disqualifications accounted for more than 32,000 refusals, covering conditions such as psoriasis and diabetes, while a foreign-recruit cap of 1,350 a year shut out some 22,000 Commonwealth candidates.

Applications exceeded 162,000 last year — a jump of more than 40 per cent — yet tens of thousands of those candidates never made it through the process.

Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge accused Labour of pushing higher troop numbers 'into the long grass' as Russia's threats intensify day by day.

Despite the army having relaxed its body art rules more than a decade ago, over 360 candidates were still turned away in the period for tattoos or piercings.