ARMY CHIEF WARNS NATION COULD FACE A MILITARY CALL-UP
Top soldier’s fear over UK-Russia war... but No10 shrugs it off
THE head of the Army has warned civilians will have to be called up if war with Russia breaks out.
General Sir Patrick Sanders said Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine invasion is a threat to democratic western civilisation at a time when Britain does not have enough troops.
His “citizen army” alert sparked a rift with Downing Street, which denied conscription was a possibility. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s official spokesman said of the warning: “The Government has no intention to follow through with that. The military has a proud tradition of being voluntary. There are no plans to change that.” Citing part of east Ukraine where war is raging, Gen Sanders said: “This war is not merely about the black soil of the Donbass, nor the re-establishment of a Russian empire.
“It’s about defeating our system and way of life. How we respond as the pre-war generation will reverberate through history. Ukrainian bravery is buying time, for now.”
The veteran, who has commanded operations in Northern Ireland, Kosovo, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan, stressed ground forces will be essential in a war.
And he criticised over-reliance on the Royal Navy and RAF as he warned of the need for “national mobilisation”.
Army numbers have fallen to fewer than 76,000 in 13 years of Tory cuts, half what they were 30 years ago.
Gen Sanders said the UK must copy eastern European militaries which are building “citizen armies”.
He said: “Within three years, it must be credible to talk of an Army of 120,000. But this is not enough. We must prepare – and that is a whole of nation undertaking.”
This war is about defeating our system, we must prepare GENERAL SIR PATRICK SANDERS CALL UP ALERT