(RepublicanPeak.com)- A former senior general warned that the UK’s armed forces are so degraded that they would require five to 10 years to repel a Russian invasion.
General Sir Richard Barrons led the Joint Forces Command (JFC) from 2013 to 2016. He criticized Downing Street for failing to comprehend the necessity of defending the realm.
Reports show the Russian Federation has 1,350,000 troops, 12,500 tanks, and over 30,000 armored vehicles, whereas the UK has 5,015 vehicles, 137,000 soldiers, and 227 tanks.
Compared to Russia’s 605, Britain’s Royal Navy has shrunk to 70 warships.
Reports show Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s administration agreed to spend £5 billion on the military over the next two years, well below Defence Secretary Ben Wallace’s £11 billion proposal.
General Sir Richard observed that the £5 billion had already been allocated to repair the nation’s nuclear-armed submarines and replenish ammunition supplies depleted by weapons sales to Ukraine, so it would not reverse the planned Army reduction of 3,000 personnel to 73,000.
Notwithstanding the crisis in Ukraine, NATO numbers published earlier this week showed that Britain’s military expenditure declined to 2.16 percent of GDP last year. Just seven of NATO’s 30 member states met the 2 percent GDP criteria, with France and Germany falling short again.
In 1989, the military had 300,000 active personnel, compared to half that now.
Reports show UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace stated they were not in for a time, they are in it until they beat Russia and Ukrainians could return home. Wallace implied that the fight in Ukraine might go on for another year. Britain has assured Moscow that it will not disappear from the scene.
A report explained the government’s finance minister, Tristram Hunt, will present his Spring Budget, setting the stage for a showdown over Britain’s defense expenditure. Wallace told a British publication that freedom isn’t free, thus firing a shot across the bows of the Treasury.
