UK needs wake-up call and must consider Swedish-style conscription, ex-MI6 chief says

The UK must consider a Swedish-style of conscription in order to boost its numbers, according to the former head of MI6.

Sir Alex Younger also said Britain needed a "wake up call" in relation to the size of its Army.

The British Army today is the smallest it has been for 300 years, and Sir Alex told the BBC the UK should look to Sweden.

Sweden has had mandatory military conscription for males since 1901. It was temporarily abolished in 2010 and reinstated again in 2017 amid rising threats to national security. 

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It is small and selective, with only around 6,000 men and women called up.

Sir Alex said Sweden's conscription is used "in extremis" and the government does not compel people to give their service unless in areas it is really needed.

According to the Swedish authorities, only those that are motivated to serve end up being chosen for the draft. 

All citizens of conscription age receive a letter calling on them to serve their country.

The letter contains a questionnaire where one of the questions is: "Do you think you would be a good fit [for military service]?"

The prospective conscript has the option to answer that question with "No" if they do not wish to serve, in which case they may still be called up.

Those that are drafted go on to complete a basic training between 11 and 15 months.

Six Alex was speaking after Latvia's foreign minister advised Britain to consider conscription and a "total defence" model to deter Russian aggression.

Latvia reintroduced the model last year, based on Finland's conscription system, which means all able-bodied men are required to complete 11 months of military service.

Speaking to the Sunday Telegraph, Krisjanis Karins said Britain should consider following suit as a way of combating any threat from Russia.

General Sir Richard Barrons, a former head of Joint Forces Command, said two years of war in Ukraine had proven that the Armed Forces might need to be considerably bigger if a European war broke out.

But in January, the-then Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said any talk of the UK introducing conscription to the Army if Nato goes to war with Russia was "nonsense".

He said the UK had long had plans readied for mobilising volunteers in the event Britain does enter a new conflict, but stressed "nobody is thinking" about bringing back conscription.

The remarks came after comments made by General Sir Patrick Sanders, the outgoing Chief of the General Staff, were interpreted as suggesting that conscription could be required in any potential future battle with Russia due to the British Army being too small.

Number 10 ruled out any suggestion that conscription was under consideration, saying there were no plans to change the British military's "proud tradition of being a voluntary force".