Iran crisis highlights just how weak the UK's Armed Forces have become
In the last 20 years, the strength of the regular Armed Forces has fallen from 197,000 to just over 122,000
Amid the furore over the UK Government’s stance on the Iran conflict and Donald Trump’s continued criticism of Keir Starmer – who the US President believes should be supporting him “without question or hesitation” – the crisis has further exposed a problem long recognised but largely ignored: the weakness of Britain’s Armed Forces.
Starmer has announced that an extra four Typhoon fighter jets will be deployed to Qatar to help defend against Iranian missile attacks, while two Wildcat helicopters should arrive in Cyprus today – followed by HMS Dragon, eventually – to bolster the island’s defences.
We have every confidence in the bravery and competence of the personnel involved, but such numbers hardly reflect the sort of hard power that will make an impression in Tehran or Moscow. Last year, the number of fully trained personnel in the regular forces was 122,170, down from 197,000 in 2006 and 326,000 in 1986.
Deterring aggression through strength
The UK has certainly benefited from the peace dividend produced by the end of the Cold War, enabling money spent on defence to be used on other priorities. But the threats posed by Putin and others mean that it is time to turn ploughshares into swords – with some urgency.
This is not war-mongering talk, quite the opposite. Building up our military strength is the surest way to deter aggression.
Starmer has said that defence spending should hit 3 per cent of GDP sometime in the next parliament, which could mean as late as 2034, but he is also reportedly considering reaching that target by 2029. We would urge him to at least do that.
Furthermore, the UK must not and cannot stand alone. Historically, our strength has always been as much in our alliances as our own military. And that means much closer integration and cooperation with the militaries of Germany, France and other like-minded European democracies, through both Nato and the European Union.
With national security at stake, this is something that even the most diehard Brexiteers need to accept. Now is not the time for blind patriotism, but for a realisation of hard, cold realities in a very different and deeply alarming new world order.
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