General Sir Patrick Sanders Chief of the General Staff has told Brits they must be ready for war with Russia, the Daily Telegraph reported that he does not support conscription.
The government will have no choice but to call up men and women into the armed forces which could see some form of the old style of national service being reintroduced as “authoritarian states are rearming.”
Admiral Rob Bauer, chairman of the NATO Military Committee, gave a stern warning last week that Western countries will have to prepare and be ready “to find more people if it comes to war.”
General Sir Patrick echoed those comments, as Admiral Bauer said that the UK and European countries will have to consider “mobilisation, reservists or conscription” as the West are preparing for war with Russia.
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Tory MP Tobias Ellwood who served with General Sir Patrick told Sky News there is a “1939 feel to the world” and he warned that UK is not ready to deal with what is soon to come “over the horizon.”
Ellwood made his comments after General Sir Patrick is set to give a speech warning that young men and women will be called up to join the armed forces and will be mobilised fight on the frontlines as the British Army is far too small.
Ellwood said General Sir Patrick is “one of the most cerebral thinkers that we’ve got” and a great “strategist.”
Ellwood said that the government needs “to listen and listen carefully, we’ve been too complacent.
“What’s coming over the horizon should shock us. It should worry us and we are not prepared.”
Ellwood who is a former British Army officer warned that countries such as Russia could try to “exploit our timidity, perhaps our reluctance to really put fires out.”
The Tory MP said, “So Patrick Sanders is saying prepare for what’s coming over the horizon – there is a 1939 feel to the world right now.
“These authoritarian states are rearming.
“There’s a risk averseness about the West in wanting to deal with that and our global institutions such as the United Nations aren’t able to hold these errant nations to account.”
Ellwood said that the army is “overstretched” and the armed forces as a whole is around “half the size of what it should be.”
The Tory MP added, “In the Cold War, we had 36 fast jet squadrons, we’re down to about six today. And that’s just an illustration of just how small our armed forces are.”
The Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said on Sunday the government’s target for the defence budget is 2.5%, but Ellwood said this need to be raised to at least 3%, during the Cold War spending stood at “about 4%.”
Ellwood warned, “Our world is no longer at peace. We’re moving to a world at war. Britain absolutely has a role to play, but we need to upgrade our defence posture.”
