Labour has called for the Army to become "smarter" after research showed too many recruits struggle with basic reading and writing.

The Army's own findings show that up to half of recruits have the literacy and numeracy skills of the average 11 or seven-year-old, the party said.

A greater emphasis on learning could transform the Armed Forces, Labour's shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy said ahead of Armed Forces Day.

In a wide-ranging call for better conditions for those who fight for the UK, Mr Murphy also said that companies should also be banned from discriminating against employing reservists. Labour has criticised the Coalition Government's decision to cut the size of the Army from 102,000 to 82,000, but admits it cannot pledge to undo the cuts.

"If our Forces are going to be leaner, they can also be smarter," he said.

He went on: "High-skilled Scottish personnel in the British Armed Forces would have not just greater ability to perform to their maximum ability on operations, but a higher chance of progression within their chosen service."

But he warned education must begin whenever recruits sign up.

"Some of those who join at 16 will have done so because they have fallen out of the state education system," he said.

"The answer is not to stop them joining the Army, but to make education a different experience within the military."