British Army 'not ready to fight' a war despite international tensions ramping up

By Grace Piercy, News Reporter

The defence curate said the UK is 'not acceptable to fight' (Image: Getty)

British Army is “not acceptable to fight” a warfare contempt planetary tensions ramping up.

The Defence Secretary, John Healey, said that the UK was “very skilled and acceptable to behaviour subject operations” but needed to beryllium “ready to fight”.

He went connected to assertion that, aft Labour took implicit the authorities successful July, ministers recovered the authorities of the equipped forces was “far worse than we thought”.

Mr Healey said: "The UK, successful keeping with galore different nations, has fundamentally go precise skilled and acceptable to behaviour subject operations.

"What we've not been acceptable to bash is to fight. And unless we are acceptable to fight, we are not successful a signifier to deter." He added that this was "at the heart" of reasoning wrong NATO.

John Healey said the authorities of the forces was 'far worse' than expected (Image: Getty)

The Defence Secretary said: "We've got to not conscionable beryllium susceptible of defending our Nato nations, but much importantly, got to beryllium much effectual successful the deterrence that we tin supply against immoderate aboriginal aggression.

"Our forces request to beryllium capable to innovate. We request to beryllium capable to instrumentality the caller technologies and immoderate of the lessons from Ukraine and marque what we bash much lethal and truthful a stronger deterrence."

This comes arsenic a erstwhile caput of the army, General Sir Patrick Sanders, warned earlier this twelvemonth that with the fig of troops astatine its lowest level successful centuries, civilians mightiness request to beryllium called up successful the lawsuit of a war.

During an event, the wide said "national mobilisation" isn't a world lone for countries adjacent to Russia. He added: “We volition not beryllium immune and arsenic the prewar procreation we indispensable likewise hole – and that is simply a whole-of-nation undertaking. Ukraine brutally illustrates that regular armies commencement wars; national armies triumph them.”

And the existent service chief, General Sir Roly Walker, said that the size of the country’s warring unit needed to triple and indispensable beryllium acceptable to combat a warfare successful 3 years.

Defence expert Colonel Simon Diggins agreed, telling LBC that "in the lawsuit of a important menace to us, we would conflict to support ourselves".

A Government spokesperson said: "This authorities volition ever bash what's required to support the country. The UK's equipped forces are amongst the champion successful the satellite and connection a 24/7 defence of the UK - operating alongside our Allies and partners to hole for immoderate event.

"The Strategic Defence Review volition look astatine the threats we look and the capabilities we request truthful that our equipped forces are amended acceptable to fight, much integrated and much innovative."