Sunak forced to refuse military service due to growing threat of war with Russia

The Prime Minister's spokesman said there was no point arguing about whether Britain was strong enough to fight Russia in the event of war. Credit: Cpl Tim Hammond/MoD

Downing Street was forced to rule out conscription after the head of the army warned that British citizens would have to fight Russia in a future war.

The general said Sir Patrick Sanders. Britain needed a military that could not only expand rapidly but also «train and equip» a civilian army, as this newspaper first reported in its speech.

In his address to the International Armor Conference at Twickenham on Wednesday, General Sir Patrick stressed that the army, which is forecast to have just 72,500 fully trained soldiers by 2025, will not be large enough to fight a full-scale war with Russia, even if its population is 120,000 people.

Defense sources previously told The Telegraph that General Sir Patrick wants to see a shift in the thinking of British men and women where they think like soldiers and are mentally prepared for a possible war with Russia.

He official on Wednesday The Prime Minister's spokesman said Downing Street did not agree with Sir Patrick's views. Asked about the possibility of conscription, he said: “The British Armed Forces pride themselves on being a volunteer force. As I already said, there are no plans to draft into the army.”

The spokesman said there was no use arguing about whether Britain was strong enough to fight Russia in the event of war. “I think these kinds of hypothetical scenarios about conflict are not helpful, and I don’t think it’s right to engage in them,” he said, adding that the government has invested “significant sums in our Armed Forces.”< /p>

However, a senior Whitehall source said there needed to be a «wider conversation» within the government about dealing with a more dangerous world.General Sir Patrick said: «Regular armies start wars, citizen armies win them.» Photo: Heathcliff O'Malley

It is clear that Number 10 did not want General Sir Patrick's comments to be made public.

In his speech, General Sir Patrick emphasized the importance of civilians in wartime. as was demonstrated on the battlefields of Ukraine. “Ukraine brutally demonstrates that regular armies start wars, but civilian armies win them,” he said.

“We need an army that can expand rapidly to support the first echelon, resource the second echelon, and train and equip the civilian army that must follow.”

“Over the next three years, it must earn trust to talk about a British army of 120,000 folding into our reserve and strategic reserve. But this is not enough.”

In a recent speech, Grant Shapps, the defense secretary, warned that Britain was «moving from a post-war to a pre-war world» and international conflict was expected within five years. Mr Shapps also said he would like the UK to spend 3 per cent of GDP on defence, up from the 2 per cent it is currently committed to spending.

On Wednesday he said he was «working hard» to ensure that the Armed Forces are not exhausted amid a recruitment crisis.

Meanwhile, Estonia's top military commander said NATO had underestimated Russia's ability to produce ammunition and recruit troops.

On Wednesday, the commander of the Estonian Defense Forces, Martin Herem, said that fresh intelligence had prompted a reassessment among NATO allies and a flood of warnings about preparations for a long-term conflict in Ukraine.

He said Vladimir Putin's armed forces could produce several million artillery shells a year, far exceeding European efforts, and could recruit hundreds of thousands of new soldiers.

General Sir Patrick's comments were welcomed in defense circles.

“If international circumstances worsen, with this country at war, fighting with an army of 75,000 soldiers will not be sustainable,” he said.

“Regular armies fight in the early rounds, and the civilian army comes later and puts on the uniform; we saw this in World War I and World War II.

“This is reality, and it is quite possible to have these conversations. I certainly don’t criticize the Chief of the General Staff for this.”

A Whitehall source told The Times on Wednesday evening that training Ukrainian civilians on British soil could become a «mission». rehearsal» to train people across the UK to follow suit.

James Heappie, the Secretary of State for the Armed Forces, has indicated that a combined force of 500,000 military personnel and members of the public could be created.

Mr Shapps could take the step of legally recalling ex-servicemen, including ex-officers and various ranks, if they left the armed forces within the last 18 years and are under 55.

Mr Shapps could see it. The hippie returns to the front line with Veterans Affairs Secretary Johnny Mercer and Prince Harry.

Tobias Ellwood, former chairman of the Defense Select Committee, said: “We have to recognize that the world is moving dangerously in the wrong direction and now it is affects our economy, first in the Black Sea, now in the Red Sea. Sea.

“The period of post-Cold War instability has ended and a new chapter has begun, in which a new alliance of adversaries is testing the timidity of the West. Britain has done well to revive its Cold War public policy, but we can only continue to do so if we improve our defense posture.»

A senior Defense source added that he had “no disagreement” with General Sir Patrick’s comments about mobilizing the nation and said it was “a daily topic of conversation in the entire army.»

“The army is too small. and is being asked to do too much for its resources and size,» he said.

The source warned that although conscription in the UK has not taken place since the 1950s, ordinary people will have to be conscripted into in the event of a conflict with Russia. “That's how it should be. Otherwise, the numbers don't add up,” he said.

In his speech, Sir Patrick said: “Our friends in Eastern and Northern Europe, who feel the Russian threat more acutely, are already acting cautiously in laying the foundations for national mobilization «.

He added: «Taking preparatory steps that will enable us to put our societies on a war footing when necessary is not entirely desirable at this time, but it is necessary.»

«We are not We will be insured. And we, like the pre-war generation, must prepare in the same way, and this is the task of the entire nation. Ukraine cruelly reminds us that regular armies start wars, but civilian armies end them and win them.”