Former British army chief Care Starmer has warned that the army needs a dangerous investment now if the peacekeeping forces are deployed in Ukraine.
“We have to invest muchly in our army,” Lord Danat Brabc Breakfast told us, especially if the Prime Minister is “serious” about helping Kiev on the ground.
Starmer announced overnightly that he was ready to send the peacekeeping forces to support the besieged country if a deal was concluded to end the war.
But Dinat said that the Prime Minister “must realize that he will come at a great cost.”
He said: “Funding must start now. Just go to 2.5 % of GDP does not touch the sides. We have to go to 3 or 3.5 %.
“Commitment to this now so that the defense planners can spend money in a reasonable way to do what to do.
“It must become real. He cannot live in the land of imagination.”
The UK currently spends 2.3 % of its gross domestic product on defense, which exceeds the minimum mandatory NATO of 2 %.
The Labor Party has adhered to this to 2.5 % – although it has not given a time frame for that, and US President Donald Trump wants all NATO members to 5 %.
Danat said: “Frankly, we did not get the numbers and did not get the equipment to put a large force on the ground for a long period of time at the present time,” Danat said.
“Now, if Care Starmer wants to do this, then there is nothing wrong, the British army will always stand in front of the painting, but here we go again: We must have the right number of people who have the appropriate amount of equipment and the correct amount of training, and start financing So now.
He added: “The front lines are very long between Russia and Ukraine. I can see that Britain may bear the responsibility of this, and I think it may require strength between 5 and 10,000.”
He said that rotation for six months with 7,500 deployments, and this requires up to 30,000 soldiers.
He said: “The British army is currently strong 73,000, and we have already have foreign deployment in Estonia and the help of the Poles and around the world.”
He said that the army would have to mobilize reserve nationals to protect Ukraine – before discussing the amount of equipment owned by British forces.
On Saturday, Danat warned that the UK army was “running”, and was unable to lead any future peacekeeping tasks.
He said to the BBC It will be required for up to 40,000 soldiers in the UK for such a task and “we did not have this number.”
Health Minister Wes Street Radio Times told this morning that the protection of Ukraine is “an existential question for Europe as a whole” – but he refused to put a number on the number of forces that the UK will send to Ukraine.
“I think it is too early to talk about the numbers and be speculative,” said Minister of the Council of Ministers.
He added: “The Prime Minister has identified his argument today, and there is no doubt that more during the day. I will not enter a game of numbers.