UK military not ready for war with Russia, China: Admiral
The UK military is not adequately equipped to deal with the growing threat of a world war, a top British military commander has warned, renewing calls for more funding.
Admiral Alan William John West, who once led Britain’s Royal Navy, told the Daily Star on Sunday that the world “is more dangerous and chaotic” than at any time and major international conflicts are looming.
“If you look at the tensions in the world it is more chaotic and dangerous than it has been in any time in my 50 years on the active list of the Royal Navy,” he warned, adding that the world is way more unstable than it was during the Cold War.
“Unless we increase the investment, Britain is standing into danger, particularly in our maritime power,” he said.
The Falklands War veteran raised the possibility of war in Europe in case the European Union (EU) breaks apart.
“If the EU starts to break up and things go badly wrong in Europe, which I think they might well do, we have historically twice in the last century had to go and sort it out at immense cost of blood and treasure to our nation,” he warned.
The warning about a possible EU breakdown is nothing new and was used as a fear tactic by pro-EU campaigners who wanted to keep the country in the bloc.
The tactic was proven ineffective when on June 23, nearly 52 percent of British voters decided that the membership should end.
In his Sunday interview, the decorated admiral also tried to make his case by pointing the finger at Russia and China as direct military threats to his country.
“They have spent a huge amount upgrading their nuclear capability and their conventional forces,” he said of Russia. “What is their intention? What are they planning to do?”
According to West, the UK needed to team up with the US to “handle” China’s rising influence in the South China Sea.
West’s warnings fell in line with similar remarks by other senior UK commanders who are all calling for more military budget in the face of what they call threats from Russia or the so-called Brexit.
The UK Ministry of Defense has defended Britain’s combat readiness, premising a whopping £178 billion to renew the country’s already massive war machine which is engaged in several military conflicts overseas.
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