Sitrep podcast: Is the British Army really the Cinderella service of the Armed Forces?
The Armed Forces may have to curb their ambitions due to a lack of funding, a former national security adviser has warned, while calling the Army a "Cinderella organisation" that needs an uplift.
Lord Peter Ricketts, a diplomat of over 40 years' experience, was commenting on the Defence Committee's latest report which warns the Armed Force are suffering from a shortage of personnel and equipment, while also being overstretched across the world.
With commitments to Nato and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, could it be time for the British Army to scale back its actions in order to save money?
Lord Ricketts told the Sitrep podcast that the recent report should be taken seriously - and despite the growing tensions around the world, the Armed Forces might have to reconsider what they are prepared to put their resources toward.
"What this report tells us is that we have both capability shortfalls, difficulties in recruiting, insufficient stockpiles - what they call warfighting," he said.
"The answer to that can't be a great deal more money in the short term given the budget situation in the UK.
"So the answer is prioritising and choosing the most important strategic issues and concentrating on those."
When asked what activities should be reconsidered, Lord Ricketts said: "I think we should look at issues like carrier deployment to the Far East.
"I think we have to look very critically at all our different training missions around the world.
"There are a lot of them, but they do consume manpower, and command and airlift support of course, and concentrate on the missions associated with stability in Europe, and I would put top of that agenda everything to do with Ukraine."
Lord Ricketts was asked if he thought the UK was overstretching itself, and he replied: "I'm afraid it is, yes.
"Even if we scale back some of the operational commitments of the Armed Forces, we are still going to need a significant uplift in defence spending, not least to re-equip the Army.
"The Air Force and Navy have done quite well over the last decade in terms of capital spending.
"The Army has been the Cinderella organisation since the Afghan and Iraq conflicts, largely they have legacy equipment from that period.
"So I think we need both a scaling back of the global ambitions and also an uplift to make the Army really capable of warfighting which is what the Defence Select Committee recommends in the next five to 10 years."
:: The award-winning Sitrep podcast brings you discussion and analysis on defence, foreign policy and the stories affecting the Armed Forces, presented by Kate Gerbeau with expert analysis from Professor Michael Clarke.
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