Urgent British Army warning as prime basic fears for future with ‘static land drive’ | UK | News | EUROtoday

The head of the British Army has mentioned inadequate funding has put it susceptible to changing into a land drive centered solely on the UK, in line with reviews.

Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Patrick Sanders, has advised the Army’s means to hold out campaigns abroad was in jeopardy, a letter leaked to the Telegraph reportedly reveals.

General Sir Patrick has additionally mentioned each he and senior officers have “struggled” to “fully land” their considerations with the Ministry of Defence, in line with the identical publication.

He reportedly wrote to former generals: “For some time, we have asset-sweated the military, compounded by a mismatch between ambition and resource that has been robustly addressed by both National Audit Office and Defence Select Committee reporting.

“Our strategic resilience is in danger, and we would inadvertently cut back ourselves to a smaller, static and domestically-focused land drive. I’m not positive that that is both the Army the nation wants, or the one which policymakers need.”

General Sir Patrick Sanders last month issued a national call to prepare for a major conflict on European soil, signalling the potential need for mass mobilisation.

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps has said Britain needs to prepare for a war, saying the world is in a pre-war period – but ruled out conscription.

On Gen Sir Patrick’s alleged leaked letter, Major General Julian Thompson, who commanded Three Commando Brigade in the Falklands War, said: “He is true to warn that we would quickly be unable to fulfil our expeditionary or NATO commitments. That is actually stunning.”

Gen Sir Patrick’s letter reportedly puts him at odds with the Defence Secretary on “wokeism” in the military, and the MoD’s new housing initiative.

Under the scheme, personnel would be allocated houses according to the size of their family rather than rank, outraging some soldiers’ wives.

The letter said there was “a lot to have fun” in the New Accommodation Offer, but Gen Sir Patrick noted concerns about “a number of the seemingly penalties”.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “Our Armed Forces are all the time prepared to guard and defend the nation, with greater than £50billion being spent on defence this yr alone.”