Veterans aged 65 told to prepare for war
65-year-old military veterans at risk of being mobilized under new powers Prepare the Armed Forces for war.
The government is preparing to raise the call-up age for the country’s retired military pool, known as the strategic reserve, from 55 to 65.
The new measures are being introduced as part of the new Armed Forces bill, which will be published in Parliament later.
The changes will make it easier to mobilize tens of thousands of former military personnel.
The army has fallen to its lowest numbers in more than 200 years. Just over 70,000 full-time, fully trained troops ready to be deployed to the front line.
Under current rules, the pool of retired soldiers can be called in in the event of “national danger, major emergency or attack in the UK”.
But with the new changes, this will be reduced to “combat preparations”, which is already the threshold for reservists newly leaving the Armed Forces.
The measures come amid fears that Britain could be dragged into a full-scale war with Russia within a few years.
Defense and security chiefs have repeatedly warned in recent months about the potential for large-scale war.
Just before Christmas, Armed Forces minister Al Carns said war was “knocking on Europe’s door” and Britain must be prepared for a conflict “bigger” than those in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Last week the UK announced this would happen. Troops are being deployed to Ukrainewith France if a ceasefire agreement is signed between Moscow and Kyiv.
Although it is unclear exactly how many soldiers could be deployed, reports suggest up to 7,500 British personnel could be deployed.
If this figure is correct, this would effectively mean that approximately 21,000 personnel would be sent to Ukraine; one group is deployed, another is in training, and a third is recovering for operations there.
But military analysts warned that such a deployment would strain the Armed Forces and become an “all-Army effort” that would have to be sustained.
Sources in the Ministry of Defense disputed suggestions that 7,500 troops could be deployed, while insiders said the number could be lower.
£28bn funding black hole
The government made the commitment on Friday Will spend £200 million Upgrading armored vehicles and purchasing new kits in preparation for the peacekeeping mission.
According to the BBC, the proposed changes will come into force next year if approved by Parliament.
The government estimates there are around 95,000 people in the strategic reserve, including veterans of the Royal Navy, Army and RAF.
These differ from reserve forces, which consist of personnel who volunteer to serve in the military on a part-time basis. There are currently approximately 32,000 reserve activists in the three wings of the Armed Forces.
The military has had difficulty recruiting and retaining personnel in recent years. The army has suffered the most, shrinking from more than 100,000 personnel in 2010 to just over 70,000 now.
The latest figures show a very marginal increase in the number of people enlisting in the military. But it is still at the lowest level since the Napoleonic Wars.
Meanwhile, the Armed Forces are grappling with a £28bn funding black hole over the next four years despite plans to increase defense spending.
Sir Keir Starmer was warned of the shortage by the head of the military, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, just days before Christmas.
On Monday Sir Richard admitted Britain did not have the money to meet the military targets set by the Prime Minister as part of the Strategic Defense Review in June.
The chief of defense staff told MPs on the House of Commons defense committee: “I’ll be completely honest with you: we won’t be able to do everything we want to do as quickly as we want to do it.
“If we wanted to do everything that’s currently on the schedule and all the extra stuff in SDR [strategic defence review]Can we do this with the budget we have? The answer is no.”
England not ready to defend itself
This comes despite Sir Keir announcing last year that defense spending would rise from 2.3 per cent of GDP to 2.6 per cent by 2027. The strategic defense review also made looser promises to reach 3 percent by the early 2030s and 3.5 percent by 2035.
As part of the Strategic Defense Review, Sir Keir pledged to build 12 new nuclear attack submarines and spend billions more on new defense technology.
Britain’s military spending is the subject of increasing criticism; A parliamentary report prepared last year warned that the country was not ready to defend itself against attacks.
Earlier this month, the UK fell down the global defense spending rankings and is now NATO’s 12th biggest spender by GDP, up from third in 2021.
News of the latest shortage is said to have led Sir Keir to order an overhaul of the defense investment plan, a key Ministry of Defense document.
The Defense Investment Plan, which will set out how the government’s long-term defense plans will be paid for, was originally planned to be published in the autumn. But it now appears to be stuck in financial purgatory, with Sir Richard telling MPs the Ministry of Defense “doesn’t have a date” for when it will be published.
This has raised concerns that the Armed Forces may soon have to make sweeping cuts to balance the books.
