REFORM's sole woman MP was shot down after asking Armed Forces Minister Al Carns whether he'd join the Army again if he was a young man.

The Monmouth School for Girls alumna thought she was putting the Labour Minister on the spot in a debate surrounding military recruitment and legal jeopardy for service people on the front line.

But the Forest-raised Runcorn and Helsby MP evidently didn’t realise Carns is a former colonel in the Royal Navy’s Royal Marines. and still a reservist.

And asked in the Commons: ”Would the minister himself join the British Army today if he was a young man again making a career choice?” he simply replied : ”No, I'd join the Royal Marines.”

The duo were speaking during a debate about whether the government’s Northern Ireland Troubles Bill had affected Armed Forces’ recruitment and retention.

Mr Carns told MPs there was no evidence of a negative effect, and numbers joining the Armed Forces was up 13% while those leaving had reduced by 8% .

He also said it was incorrect to link recruitment and retention to the previous government's 2023 Northern Ireland Legacy Act, which Labour wants to repeal and replace, including an immunity scheme ruled unlawful in the courts.

The scheme would have granted perpetrators of Troubles-related crimes immunity, in exchange for co-operation with a truth recovery body.

But critics of the current Troubles Bill believe this could lead to prosecutions, and is a "war on our Armed Forces".

Mrs Pochin – who won a bye-election by just six votes last year – asked Mr Carns whether he'd join today amid “the risk of future prosecutions for simply following orders”.

But her question received short shrift from the Birmingham Selly Oak MP, sparking laughter and cheers from the Labour benches.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Veterans and People joined the Marines in 1999, and was made a colonel in 2021.