UK ‘massively vulnerable’ to threat of Russia after decades of military cuts, ex-Army chief warns

With Sir Keir Starmer under mounting pressure to boost the UK’s defence budget, General Sir Nick Carter said the UK’s ‘remarkably hollow’ Army would be unable to fend off Russia if it needed. Decades of Army cuts have left the UK “massively vulnerable” to Russian aggression, the former head of the British armed forces has said.

With Sir Keir Starmer under mounting pressure to boost the UK’s defence budget, General Sir Nick Carter said the Army had suffered a “process of neglect” over the last 30 years. Gen Sir Nick, who served as chief of the defence staff between 2018 and 2021, warned the Army was “remarkably hollow” and would be unable to fend off an “onslaught” of Russian drones and missiles like those Ukraine has been subjected to.

He joined calls for Britain and other European countries to immediately ramp up defence spending ahead of separate meetings between French president Emmanuel Macron and Donald Trump and Sir Keir and the US president next week. And, with the US under Mr Trump threatening to withdraw support for Europe, Gen Sir Nick said “whether we like it or not that means we’re going to have to start protecting ourselves”.

Sir Keir is the only major UK party leader not to have publicly backed calls to hike the defence budget to 2.5 per cent of Britain’s GDP by 2030, from a current level of 2.3 per cent. He has promised a pathway to the 2.5 per cent benchmark, but the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Reform UK have all called for the increase to be funded by the end of the decade.

On Thursday, Rachel Reeves hinted at cuts to fund a boost to the defence budget, warning that it would require “difficult choices”. The chancellor told ITV: “Recognising the priority of defence spending in the world that we live in today means that we will have to make difficult choices so that we can spend that money that is needed to keep our country safe.

“I am absolutely committed to spending 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence. I am really clear that a strong economy depends on strong defences and our national security being protected. So we will set out that pathway to 2.5 per cent of GDP.”. Ahead of Sir Keir’s meeting with Mr Trump, Gen Sir Nick said “fundamentally there has got to be some form of guarantee of Ukraine’s sovereignty in the future”.

Speaking on BBC Question Time, he said: “If the Americans are not prepared to do that then others are going to have to be prepared to step up to the plate to provide that.”. Sir Keir has said he is prepared to put British troops in harm’s way if necessary as part of a peacekeeping force in Ukraine. But he suffered a blow as the US ruled out playing a part in any ongoing operation in the country, despite Sir Keir’s calls for the Americans to provide a “backstop” to deter Russia from attacking again.

Gen Sir Nick said if British troops were needed to “deter” Vladimir Putin from attacking again “then fundamentally we are not equipped or manned to be able to do that at the moment”. He said: “And that, I’m afraid, means that 2.5 per cent of GDP needs to be spent now, not at the end of this parliament, it needs to be spent now.

“Difficult choices may have to be made. We are going to have to spend more money if we seriously believe that Putin is a threat to us in the future.”. One option said to be being looked at to fund a defence spending hike is freezing income tax thresholds beyond 2028 - a stealth tax that would drag taxpayers into higher tax bands due to inflation. Ms Reeves could justify the move on the grounds of an increasingly dangerous world, The Times reported.