Britain is 'not ready for war', top army chief warns amid escalating threats from Russia
The head of the British military has admitted the UK is not "as ready as it needs to be" for war.
The head of the British military has admitted the UK is not "as ready as it needs to be" for war.
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Giving evidence to the Defence Select Committee, Sir Richard Knighton said current spending levels will not be able to meet every need.
The acknowledgment by the Air Chief Marshal came amid growing warnings about the risk of conflict with Russia and aggressive remarks from President Donald Trump about taking control of Greenland.
During a wide-ranging session with MPs on Monday, the chief of the defence staff also confirmed the Ministry of Defence does not have sufficient funding to meet its equipment plans or the additional goals outlined in a comprehensive defence review published back in June.
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While he declined to say whether there was a specific budget gap and avoided using the term "cuts", he said options under consideration include scaling back or delaying military programmes.
Air Chief Marshal Knighton, who at times appeared frustrated, told members of the committee not to "put words in my mouth" as he was questioned about reports that he had warned Prime Minister before Christmas that defence faces a £28bn budget gap over the next four years and would be forced into significant cuts without extra funding.
He said: "If we wanted to do everything that's currently in the programme and do all the extra things in the SDR [Strategic Defence Review], could we do that with the budget that we've got? The answer is no."
One of the most surprising revelations during the two-hour grilling was his confirmation the UK has yet to bring back a modern version of the Government War Book.
Drawn up during World War One and maintained until the turn of the century, the document was a set of plans for the country, from the army, hospitals and police etc, to transition from peacetime to wartime.
The comment suggests that Britain has not yet prepared for a potential war in a similar way to Cold War-era governments had before the fall of the Berlin War.