Britain must act now to rebuild military and deter our foes | Politics | News

Lord Dannatt, the former head of the army, wants Britain to avoid repeating the fatal mistakes that left the country dangerously weakened in the years leading up to World War II.

“I’m afraid we are vulnerable on every level,” he warns. “The Army, Navy and Air Force have never been smaller in peacetime than they are now.”

He sees worrying parallels between the current state of the armed forces and the country’s unpreparedness against Nazi Germany. In his 2023 book, Victory in Defeat, written with Robert Lyman, he detailed how the British Army went from defeating the German army in World War I to being forced to evacuate at Dunkirk in 1940. He argues that, after years of failing to invest in our defences, Britain has finally realized that “Hitler is a threat” and that “the process of rearmament has begun at just the right time”.

Warning that we are in a “similar situation” today where Vladimir Putin is threatening the security of Europe, he asks: “How much time do we have left to get there just in time? Are we drinking at the last chance bar?”

The 75-year-old warns that failure to maintain a strong military can lead to huge costs, noting that while Britain invested less than 3 per cent of GDP in defense before the war with Germany, it went from spending 46 per cent in 1940, when the country was “fighting for survival”. Today he calls on the UK to “significantly increase our investment in all types of unmanned aerial vehicles for surveillance, reconnaissance, attack and defense”.

However, he adds: “The existence of new technologies does not mean that old technologies can be abandoned. Main battle tanks, armored infantry fighting vehicles and traditional artillery and rocket artillery will still be needed in the future.”

The number of regular soldiers fell to 153,000 in 1990, falling to just 73,790 at the start of the year.

“Years ago, we said that 100,000 was the critical mass below which we should not fall,” he notes. “I think getting back to that 100,000 figure, supported by a much larger mobilizable reserve, is a reasonable goal to move towards.”

Plans for a ballistic missile defense system were shelved in the late 1990s, he says, and it is now “an acknowledged weakness.” Implementing a new system to protect Britain would be “extraordinarily expensive”; Difficult choices are ahead about which locations should be prioritized for defense, and there is “urgent work” to be done.

Looking back on the days when the country invested close to 5% of GDP in defense, he says: “We deterred further aggression by the Soviet Union, and the Cold War never escalated.”

Currently the Government has a commitment to spend 2.5 per cent of GDP on defense by April next year and a target of investing 3 per cent by the next parliament.

He argues that going back to “a rate approaching 5 percent” could be “the price we have to pay for our security.”

Where can money come from to increase defense spending? Lord Dannatt, who was Chief of Staff from 2006 to 2009, lists the difficult choices.

“We may all have to share the increased defense burden by paying a few pence more on the basic income tax rate. But otherwise it’s a matter of realigning Government spending priorities. And we also need to look at the burgeoning, out-of-control welfare budget.”

It’s one thing to have “the best welfare system in the world,” he notes, “but if it’s dominated by Russia, it’s a waste of time.”

Lord Dannatt’s first tour of duty was in Northern Ireland in 1971. There is now great concern in the veterans’ community that those who served in the state during the years of IRA terrorism could face vexatious prosecutions. This situation was further intensified as a result of Labour’s decision to repeal the so-called Succession Act, which was intended to provide conditional immunity to those in office.

On his last day as head of the army, Lord Dannatt was questioned by two members of the Constabulary of Northern Ireland about the actions of his platoon in Belfast in 1973.

Describing the grilling as a “complete waste of time”, he says: “If even the Chief of the General Staff is going to be quizzed in an unnecessary fashion, one worries about a 75-year-old former private who may not be able to recall what happened, who may feel under huge pressure and be extraordinarily worried. And frankly, we’ve got to find a mechanism to stop all that.”

He accepts that the case should be reopened if “real evidence” emerges, but argues that Sinn Fein, which served as the political wing of the IRA during the Troubles and now leads the Stormont Government, is on a mission to rewrite history and portray UK forces as “oppressors”.

The retired general fears that both Vladimir Putin and the US President are victims of “arrogance” and thinks that “military force can suddenly be used to achieve something that has not been thoroughly thought through”.

Condemning “a carelessness of ridiculous proportions,” he says it should be clear that “the Iranians can put their foot down on the neck of the West by controlling the Strait of Hormuz and cutting off its oil supply.”

Looking east, Lord Dannatt points to the decades-long divide between North and South Korea and warns of the danger if a ceasefire is agreed to in Ukraine that freezes but does not reverse the conflict.

“Imagine if Ukraine stands with a ceasefire and no peace agreement,” he says. “The US still has 25,000 troops in South Korea, guaranteeing a ceasefire. When Keir Starmer says he is ready and willing to put British boots on the ground to guarantee a ceasefire, is he willing to keep them there for 75 years?”

He warns that a ceasefire would allow “Russian armed forces to reset, restructure themselves and either put pressure on Ukraine again or maybe go into the Baltics or Scandinavia or the High North or wherever.”

Despite the seriousness of the threats facing the nation, Lord Dannatt, a devout Christian, yearns for hope for a better future.

He describes how when he served in Northern Ireland in August 1971, “violence was so deeply ingrained, hatred was so deeply ingrained that one could not see a way forward.”

But he adds: “One hoped that there might be better times. And that hope came true. And a month ago I was in Belfast and could go up and down the Crumlin road, up and down the Falls road, without fear. Better times have come.”

Warming to the subject, he adds: “My wife and I started married life in Berlin in 1977, when that city was divided, when Germany was divided. One hoped that better times might come for Berlin, Germany and Europe.”

“And that hope was realized when the Berlin Wall came down, Germany was reunited, and the Soviet Union collapsed.

“Therefore, in times of great difficulty, when you cannot see your way forward, I think it is legitimate to hope that there may be better times, and to work in the hope of better times.”

Today, Israel carries the hope of peace for the people of Gaza, the Middle East and Taiwan.

“I don’t think it’s naive to believe in hope,” he says. “I think hope sustains, hope encourages, and hope can be a guiding light.”