A NORTH-East MP today (Tuesday, May 21) called on the Ministry of Defence to stop recruiting child soldiers – warning the UK is defying international opinion.

Alex Cunningham, the Stockton North MP, staged a Commons debate to urge the military to wait until young people were 18, before signing them up.

The Labour MP described it as “amazing” that the UK – along with the likes of Iran, Zimbabwe and North Korea – allowed under-18s to join the armed forces.

And he told ministers: “There is no similar underage recruitment in other dangerous public service vocations, such as the fire or police service.

“Young people under 18 are legally restricted from watching violent war films and playing video games – yet they can be trained to go to war.

“Not many people realise that having 16 as a minimum recruitment age is hardly typical amongst developed and democratic countries.

“In fact, the UK is the only member of the European Union that still recruits at age 16 - and the only permanent member of the UN Security Council that does so.”

It also cost taxpayers far more to recruit under-18s, Mr Cunningham said – because they had to be trained for up to 50 weeks, compared with 14 weeks for adults.

And they were unable to study for key qualifications including A-levels and BTECs. The MP added: “Many leave with no transferrable skills at all.”

But the call was rebuffed by Mark Lancaster, the Government defence whip, who insisted children joining the armed forces gained “valuable skills for life”.

Mr Lancaster said under-18s remained in service for longer and rose further up the ranks, because they gained promotion earlier.