A senior military official has stated that the British Army is prepared to engage Vladimir Putin’s forces “tonight” if Russia extends its aggression to another European country beyond Ukraine.
Lt. Gen Sir Rob Magowan, the deputy chief of the British defence staff, told the House of Commons defence committee yesterday afternoon: ‘If the British Army was asked to fight tonight, it would fight tonight.
‘I don’t think anybody in this room should be under any illusion that if the Russians invaded eastern Europe tonight, then we would meet them in that fight.’
His bold statement followed hours after Russia’s ambassador to the UK warned that Ukraine’s use of Storm Shadow missiles on Russian territory means Britain ‘is now directly involved in this war’.
‘This firing cannot happen without NATO staff, British staff as well,’ Andrei Kelin told Sky News this afternoon – a day after British-made rockets battered a military base in Russia’s Kursk region.
Magowan’s bold statement contrasts sharply with the state of the UK’s military capabilities.
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In May, he admitted that Britain’s armed forces would exhaust their ammunition and equipment in less than two months if engaged in a conflict with Putin’s Russia.
At the same time, Defence Secretary John Healey is pursuing cost-cutting measures, including the decommissioning of two former Royal Navy flagships, a frigate, and two support tankers earlier this week.
Healey, appointed by Sir Keir Starmer after Labour’s July election victory, described his task as addressing a “dire inheritance from the Tories.” He cited hidden issues within the armed forces, billion-pound gaps in defence planning, wasted taxpayer funds, and record-low military morale.
The Government is conducting a strategic defence review to outline plans for allocating 2.5% of GDP to defence spending, although no specific timeline for this commitment has been provided.
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