𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Britain’s top military chief has warned the country could not defend itself in war. Sir Richard Knighton, the chief of defence staff delivered the devastating admission to MPs yesterday (Mon), warning the Armed Forces are unprepared for the kind of warfare Britain may soon face.

Speaking at a Defence Committee meeting, Sir Richard said: “Over the last 30 years, since the end of the cold war, we are not as ready, we have taken a peace dividend, we are not as ready as we need to be for the kind of full scale conflict we might face.” He added: “That is how we ultimately deter our principal adversaries, by being able to fight, and win.”

It comes just six days after Sir Keir Starmer pledged to put British troops on the ground in Ukraine should a peace deal with Russia be agreed. The deal would see the UK and France build military hubs across Ukraine alongside protected facilities for weapons and military gear.

The Coalition of the Willing, a group of 35 world leaders, also committed to supplying war-torn Ukraine with all necessary resources to maintain an armed force of 800,000 troops, with the US providing security guarantees against future Russian attack. But Sir Richard’s blunt assessment raises serious questions about whether the military has the resources to meet existing commitments whilst also fulfilling the ambitious targets set out in the Government’s own strategic defence review (SDR).

Pressed on whether the SDR could be delivered under existing budgets, Sir Richard admitted: “It’s a statement to the obvious that we can’t do everything we would want to do as quickly as we would want to do it, within the context of the budget we have set. And that requires ministers to make difficult trade-offs.”

The SDR, published in June 2025, promised to make Britain “secure at home, strong abroad” with what Defence Secretary John Healey described as a “landmark shift” in the UK’s approach to defence.

It called for “warfighting readiness”, technological innovation, strength in numbers and a move toward greater use of autonomy and artificial intelligence. It recommended the regular army should not drop below 73,000 personnel, with a minimum of 100,000 regular and reserve personnel combined.

The Government pledged to increase defence spending to 2.6% of GDP by 2027. However the promised Defence Investment Plan, due in autumn 2025, has yet to materialise which leaves the Armed Forces without a clear roadmap for funding. Critics have questioned where the resources will come from to meet the SDR’s requirements whilst also fulfilling new commitments such as the Ukraine deployment.

Shadow Defence Secretary, James Cartlidge MP said: “The best way to deter war is to be prepared for it – yet the Chief of Defence Staff has today confirmed that we are simply not ready. The problem is Labour have prioritised higher welfare spending instead of going to 3% on Defence this Parliament, and as a result our Armed Forces cannot order the equipment they need. In contrast, last month we announced a fully costed Sovereign Defence Fund, boosting our war readiness with £6bn extra for drones.”

The Ministry of Defence has been contacted for comment.