UK has no plan for mobilising doctors if war breaks out, top military chief admits
In a further sign of Britain’s unpreparedness for a possible conflict, the UK’s top military chief admitted he currently has no plan for how to mobilize doctors, nurses and hospitals in the event of all-out war.
Testifying before the House of Commons defense select committee, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton said the UK did not currently have “a complete plan for how we would mobilize the NHS at Article Five level in the event of armed conflict”.
Sir Richard also admitted there was not enough money to continue all planned military programs as well as everything set out in the strategic defense review (SDR), but was visibly annoyed when MPs suggested the military might have to make cuts.
It comes as concerns grow over the state of Britain’s hollowed-out armed forces in the face of growing threats from Russia and China, despite the prime minister’s repeated promises to make Britain “war ready”.
Asked if he had any concerns about the UK’s ability to treat wounded casualties, Sir Richard said: “If we were to go into all-out conflict under NATO’s Article Five and inflict mass casualties, the defense medical system is not set up to do that. It would need to be linked to the National Health Service… and we don’t have a full plan at the moment for how to do that.”
“I now have every confidence that we will do this, given the past response of the NHS and the brilliant people in the NHS and defensive medical services.
“But we do not currently have a full plan for how to mobilize the NHS at Article Five level in the event of armed conflict.”
Asked when a plan would be put in place, he said a plan would likely “evolve” within the next 18 months, adding that the NHS and defensive healthcare were “already working very closely together”.
Sir Richard took over as Chief of the Defense Staff (CDS) in September and was responsible for the delivery of the SDR, which was published in June.
Britain has pledged to increase defense spending to 2.5 percent of GDP by 2027 in a bid to close gaps in Britain’s struggling military.
This comes at a time of rising global instability, with the US president storming into Caracas and capturing the Venezuelan president, and just days after Britain and France signed a historic agreement with Russia committing to the deployment of military troops in Ukraine as soon as any ceasefire comes into force.
Earlier this month it was reported that Sir Richard told the prime minister at a meeting before Christmas that the Ministry of Defense faced a £28bn funding gap for the next four years.
The army chief said he would not comment on reports of the meeting, but added: “I will tell you this, we met with the prime minister in December and talked about a number of defence-related issues, including the defense investment plan, but the material discussed at that meeting was classified as classified and so I will not be talking about it publicly.”
The shortage is said to have led Sir Keir to order an overhaul of a key Ministry of Defense document, the defense investment plan (Dip); However, Sir Richard said no date has yet been set for when the plan will be published.
The Dip, 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.
While CDS told the committee the MoD “does not have a date” for when the plan will be published, it said the department is “working immediately” on the plan.
He added: “I thought you might ask me about media speculation about the cost of the programme, and speculation about specific figures, and that’s exactly what’s happening: it’s speculation.”
Admitting there was not enough money to “do everything we wanted to do as quickly as we wanted to do”, Sir Richard said: “If we wanted to do all the things in the program and do all the extra stuff [outlined in the SDR]Can we do this with the budget we have? The answer is no.”
He added: “For the Prime Minister to commit to three and a half per cent of GDP is unprecedented. But I will be completely honest with you that we will not be able to do everything we want to do within that framework as quickly as we would like.”
But when asked by MPs whether this meant cuts would be needed, Sir Richard responded by accusing them of “putting words in my mouth”.
Elsewhere, the committee asked Sir Richard whether he believed British troops would be safe and well-resourced enough to undertake peacekeeping duties in Ukraine if the war ended.
He acknowledged that there is no such thing as zero risk in operational environments.
But he added: “We will not deploy our armed forces if we are not satisfied that they will be safe and having been closely involved in the work on ‘coalition of the willing’ planning, I am confident that we have found a way to meet the requirements set and that this additional funding will reduce the risk.”
