A senior US general privately warned Ben Wallace that the British Army is no longer a top-level fighting force, a report has claimed. Defence sources have warned that decades of budget cuts preceded the UK military’s decline in war-fighting capability.
It has been suggested the decline needs to be reversed following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
A defence source told Sky News: “Bottom line… it’s an entire service unable to protect the UK and our allies for a decade.”
Sources also claimed Rishi Sunak risked failing in his role as “wartime Prime Minister” unless he takes urgent action against the threat posed by the Kremlin.
An insider added: “We have a wartime prime minister and a wartime Chancellor.
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“History will look back at the choices they make in the coming weeks as fundamental to whether this Government genuinely believes that its primary duty is the defence of the realm or whether that is just a slogan to be given lip service.”
However, Defence Minister James Heappey addressed “serial underinvestment” in the UK Armed Forces.
He told MPs: “I am not sure that the United States has said anything about the official development assistance budget recently, but if you will indulge me … Everybody is clear, and the Secretary of State has said many times, as have I and other ministerial colleagues, that serial underinvestment in the Army over decades has led to the point where the Army is in urgent need of recapitalisation.
“The Chancellor and the Prime Minister get that, and there is a Budget coming.”
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Despite reported comments made by the top US general, Sunak rejected the suggestion that the British Army was no longer a top-level fighting force.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman claimed the Government is “ensuring our armed forces have the equipment and capability they need to meet the threats of tomorrow including through a fully funded £242billion 10-year equipment plan”.
Lord Robertson, former secretary-general of NATO, also disagreed with the US general.
He said: “The fact is that the British armed forces might have been weakened recently but they are still a formidable fighting force – and I think our country can be proud of them.”
However, Pentagon spokesman Brigadier-General Patrick Ryder reassured the UK of the US stance, telling Sky News: “The United Kingdom is an exceptionally capable and committed ally in NATO and has been second only to the United States in providing military aid to Ukraine.
“The unparalleled defence and security alliance between the US and the UK continues to promote stability and prosperity worldwide.”
