Army chiefs have warned the UK Government ‘must’ consider conscription immediately (Image: Getty)
A former most senior British officer in has urged the to resume conscription now or risk being powerless in a clash against ‘s . Sir Richard Shirreff, who served as ‘s Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (DSACEUR), said the only way the Russian leader can be stopped is if Europe bolsters its defence and creates an effective deterrence.
The retired general told that Britain should look to launch “selective conscription” to help get the public ready for war. He said: “The government should rule nothing out at the moment. I can’t see how an army of just 70,000 is going to be able to deter in the long term and maintain the mass it needs.
British forces recently led NATO forces in Romania on the alliance’s biggest exercises of the year (Image: Getty)
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“If you look at the size of our regular , it’s tiny and they’d find it difficult to deploy a brigade for any period of time.
“You need mass and you achieve mass through alliance and through creating larger forces but you’ve also got to build up your own Army.
“Selective conscription must be looked at. We’ve got to think the unthinkable and one of the things we must be considering is selective conscription.”
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Sir Richard added the must “think the unthinkable” and start planning to prevent a catastrophic event.
His comments were echoed by retired Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a former commanding officer of a rapid reaction battalion.
He told “Militarily, Britain needs to look at all the option as has been described”.
“We are not in a position at the moment to fight a ground war,” the retired senior officer warned.
“There’s no way we’ll avoid [conscription] unless we surrender, and I don’t think anybody in this country is going to surrender without a fight, especially to Putin.”
Sir Richard Sherriff is a former NATO Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (Image: Getty)
The size of the UK Armed Forces, in particular the , has long been a bone of contention.
The has around 73,000 troops – the smallest it has been since the Napoleonic Wars.
Mr de Bretton-Gordon said modernising the Armed Forces is crucial.
He added: “While conscription will take a huge focus away from our regular military – which we cannot afford at the moment – we need to plan for it.”
Other European nations already have conscription and the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk says plans are underway to make all men in the country undergo military training.
Retired Air Marshal Greg Bagwell told he believes Britain needs an extra 26,000 personnel across all three services.
While retired Colonel Richard Kemp warned there is an “extremely wide” capability gap, adding the military must be “dramatically expanded both in manpower and fighting equipment”.
He told the newspaper there needs to be plans for conscription “if the situation deteriorates”.
The Government has announced .
However, some have warned this will not be enough amid increasing uncertainty over commitment to European security.
Last year, the-then head of the , General Sir Patrick Sanders, said the must raise a “citizen army”.