UK unprepared for war with Russia, top general warns

Britain is not properly prepared to defend itself in a war with Russia and cannot rely on the United States and Nato, a retired senior general has warned.

- MILLIE COOKE

Writing in The Independent, Sir Richard Shirreff, who served as Nato’s deputy supreme allied commander in Europe from 2011 to 2014, said another global conflict will only be prevented if there is a “band of deterrent steel from the Baltic to the Black Sea” – something he said the UK may have to be prepared to help realise without the support of Washington.

His dramatic intervention comes alongside warnings from former defence secretary Ben Wallace and Labour peer Admiral Lord West that a failure to prioritise defence would be a grave error for the prime minister.

His warning follows a foreboding speech by Nato general secretary Mark Rutte who said the West is not ready to deal with the threat of war from Russia, declaring it is “time to shift to a wartime mindset and turbocharge our defence production”. Mr Rutte said: “Russia is preparing for long-term confrontation, with Ukraine and with us,” adding: “We are not ready for what is coming our way in four to five years.”

There is growing concern about the strength of Donald Trump’s commitment to Nato, following repeated threats to pull out of the alliance if member states do not spend more on defence. Sir Richard warned that Britain can make “no assumptions that Trump would honour Nato’s doctrine of collective defence”, adding: “If we are to deter a third world war, Europe must step up to the mark.”

A number of Nato member states do not yet meet the 2 per cent of GDP threshold for defence spending. Meanwhile, there are also concerns over the failure of Keir Starmer to specify a timescale in relation to his pledge to increase UK spending to 2.5 per cent.