British troops are unprepared for ‘conflict of any scale’, former defence chief warns
2 July 2024, 11:22
British troops are unprepared for ‘conflict of any scale’ and ‘cannot defend the British homelands properly’, an ex-senior official has warned.
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Dr Rob Johnson, who previously led a government team responsible for measuring the country’s readiness for war, said that Britain would “rapidly” run out of ammunition and be powerless to prevent missile attacks.
He also said that the Navy and Air Force were seriously short of ships and aircraft, adding that the UK was not spending enough to try and remedy these issues.
Dr Johnson said that the UK military was operating with a “bare minimum” that only just allowed it to mount peacekeeping and humanitarian relief operations, civilian evacuation from war zones, and some anti-sabotage activities.
He told the Financial Times: “In any larger-scale operation, we would run out of ammunition rapidly. Our defences are too thin and we are not prepared to fight and win an armed conflict of any scale.
“The UK has reached a situation where it cannot defend the British homelands properly.”
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On Monday evening, the Prime Minister issued a plea to voters, cautioning that we are “living in the most dangerous time that we've seen in decades”.
Rishi Sunak said: “Right now we're living in the most dangerous time that we've seen in decades in our country. And in spite of that, Labour are not matching our plans to keep everyone safe.
“I think this sends quite a worrying message to our adversaries like Putin, that we're not serious about security.”
Meanwhile, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: “I've been to see President Zelensky in Kyiv myself personally to say, should there be a change of government, there won't be any change in our support for Ukraine.”
It comes as the Labour leader has been urged to prioritise defence if his party is elected into government, the MailOnline reports.
Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon said: “Sir Keir, if he enters Downing Street, must get on top of defence first, otherwise everything else he intends to achieve will become horrifically irrelevant.”
General Sir Richard Barrons added: “Right now, our Armed Forces are not up to the job. We need to accelerate their modernisation and transformation.”
