Boris Johnson Should Show 'Churchill's Leadership And Decisiveness', Former Head Of The Army Says

Boris Johnson should show "Churchill's leadership and decisiveness" if he wants to "write a few pages in history, rather than just be a footnote", according to a former Chief of the General Staff.

Lord Dannatt says: "Boris Johnson is a charismatic individual and I think we all hope, for good governance in this country and some leadership in the West, that he will understand the briefs and the issues, make some decisions and go for it with the charisma he naturally has.

"Let's see a little bit of Churchill's leadership and decisiveness from Boris Johnson if he wants to write a few pages in history, rather than just be a footnote."

Watch: "Leadership from this country since 2016 has been very hesitant," says Lord Dannatt

According to Lord Dannatt, "leadership from this country since 2016 has been very hesitant": "We are vulnerable because we appear indecisive."

"The UK have traditionally stood shoulder to shoulder with the United States when the United States have been showing leadership to the West.

"Under Barack Obama that [US] leadership was weak. Under Donald Trump is extraordinarily uncertain."

When it comes to defence priorities for the new Prime Minister, Lord Dannatt is clear.

"There has been a lot of discussion during the Conservative leadership election campaign about how much is going into defence," he explained.

"Jeremy Hunt was clear that if he became Prime Minister, he would increase the defence budget to 2.25% of GDP. Boris Johnson will have to respond to that.

"The Iran issue says quite clearly that we have not got our spending right."

Recent tensions with Iran in the Gulf, says Lord Dannatt, are a very "unfortunate distraction" for the new Prime Minister.

In the current climate, good defence advisors are instrumental, says Lord Dannatt.

"The most critical thing is that he will be briefed on his responsibilities in the nuclear firing chain in the event of this country being threatened."

While Mr Johnson used to be a member of the Cabinet and has experience on how the Cabinet works, he has not been a member in over a year.

"The nuclear brief is a very important one, but he will have to understand other security briefs pretty quickly as well."