A defence minister has said the UK’s Army would be “expended” within six to 12 months if it was in a conflict on the scale of the Russia-Ukraine war but is this a call for more armed forces reservists?
If not, what was Alistair Carns trying to achieve?
Official figures show the army had 109,245 personnel on October 1, including 25,814 volunteer reservists.
But Carns said Russia is losing around 1,500 soldiers, killed or wounded, every day and if the UK was involved in a similar conflict – for example, if Russia invaded Eastern Europe – we would run out of troops very quickly.
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He did not say the country needed a bigger Army but insisted that the UK needed to be able to “generate depth and mass rapidly” in a crisis and the reserves were “critical to that process”.
But he didn’t say the UK needed more reserves either!
Still, his speech seems like a call for that.
The Army has already announced that people with acne and asthma are to be allowed in – because there is a recruitment crisis and (one presumes) more cannon fodder is needed.
Now this.
And Foreign Secretary David Lammy has said the UK is spending more on defence, working up to a point where 2.5 per cent of “national output” will contribute to the armed forces, their weapons and training.
But This Writer wonders whether the sparkle has gone out of national service. How many of today’s cosseted, social media-addicted youngsters really want to freeze in eastern Europe or Asia, and possibly die there, in conflicts that they probably think are none of our business?
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Is this a call for more armed forces reservists?
A defence minister has said the UK’s Army would be “expended” within six to 12 months if it was in a conflict on the scale of the Russia-Ukraine war but is this a call for more armed forces reservists?
If not, what was Alistair Carns trying to achieve?
Official figures show the army had 109,245 personnel on October 1, including 25,814 volunteer reservists.
But Carns said Russia is losing around 1,500 soldiers, killed or wounded, every day and if the UK was involved in a similar conflict – for example, if Russia invaded Eastern Europe – we would run out of troops very quickly.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
He did not say the country needed a bigger Army but insisted that the UK needed to be able to “generate depth and mass rapidly” in a crisis and the reserves were “critical to that process”.
But he didn’t say the UK needed more reserves either!
Still, his speech seems like a call for that.
The Army has already announced that people with acne and asthma are to be allowed in – because there is a recruitment crisis and (one presumes) more cannon fodder is needed.
Now this.
And Foreign Secretary David Lammy has said the UK is spending more on defence, working up to a point where 2.5 per cent of “national output” will contribute to the armed forces, their weapons and training.
But This Writer wonders whether the sparkle has gone out of national service. How many of today’s cosseted, social media-addicted youngsters really want to freeze in eastern Europe or Asia, and possibly die there, in conflicts that they probably think are none of our business?
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Follow Vox Political writer Mike Sivier on BlueSky
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
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