LONDON ¨C Britain¡¯s armed forces would be unable to defend the country against a serious military attack because they have been ¡°withered¡± by cuts, a former senior commander warned before his retirement, the Financial Times reported on Saturday.
In a 10-page memo sent to Defence Secretary Michael Fallon in April, Gen. Richard Barrons, who was head of Britain¡¯s Joint Forces Command, said there was no plan to defend the nation against a conventional attack and it would be overwhelmed by a concerted Russian air campaign.
¡°Capability that is foundational to all major armed forces has been withered by design,¡± Barrons said in the private memo that the FT said it had obtained.
Last year, the government committed Britain to meeting NATO¡¯s defense spending pledge of 2 percent of GDP until the end of the decade, and in its five-year defence plan announced last November promised to increase spending by 12 billion pounds ($15.6 billion) to 178 billion over the next decade.
However, defense spending cuts in real terms since 2010 to help cut a record budget deficit has meant that the size of the armed forces has shrunk by around one sixth while last year¡¯s review envisaged a reduction in civilian staff of 30 percent.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.