![]() ![]() The last Government from 2010 and this present Government might get away with it, but the future will catch us out at some point and the verdict of history will be damning.’ Pointing out that one day we would need an army in a hurry, he said: ‘I worry about the number of soldiers that we have – or, particularly, do not have. Warning that there were ‘just not enough’ serving soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines, he was as plain as his brother officers, he said: ‘We have cut the size of the Royal Navy, the Army and the Royal Air Force too far.’ Lord Dannatt, a former head of the Army, joined in the sad chorus. ![]() Remember, these are not the words of some tub-thumper on a street corner, but of a senior naval officer of great knowledge and experience.īut I have not finished. This is a national disgrace for our great maritime nation.’ Lord West revealed: ‘We have only 19 escorts. Not long ago, the policy was that we should have roughly 50 major surface ships. As for Britannia ruling the waves, forget it. Years of cuts and skill shortages have made life almost intolerable for experienced men and women, seriously overworked, who have left the service and not been replaced. ![]() Lord West also rightly underlined the Navy’s severe manpower crisis. We will have ships sunk and people killed. I have done this, as have many of us here. For a number of years, we will have ships deployed around the globe that may suddenly come across an opponent because things have escalated, and they will have to fight. He was even blunter: ‘The Navy has too few ships and men and is having to make incoherent cuts to keep within the budget.’ Important ships (including the former flagship HMS Ocean) were being paid off, and – astonishingly – we will not even have any surface-to-surface or air-to-surface missiles for the next few years. Lord West of Spithead, a former First Sea Lord, had still worse news. HMS Queen Elizabeth as she conducts vital system tests off the coast of Scotland ![]()
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