Britain needs a bigger Army to deter mighty foes in a dangerous world and the Government’s plans fall far short, a former Foreign Secretary has warned. Labour’s ambition for a Regular Army of at least 76,000 troops after the next election is too small when the UK must be ready to stand up to China and Russia, according to Sir Jeremy Hunt.
He said: “The fact of the matter is that when it comes to modern day armies – as we can see in Ukraine – size matters.” Sir Jeremy warned Britain must “plan for the worst if we want the best possible chance of avoiding war”.
He said: “The way you avoid war is by making sure you have the military strength and capabilities so your opponents think it is not worth the risk. In the case of China, the West has been too weak for too long.”
In April, Britain’s Regular Army stood at just 74,400 – down from 80,730 in 2022. The new Strategic Defence Review warns of a “workforce crisis” which it blames on “poor recruitment and retention, shoddy accommodation, falling morale, and cultural challenges”.
In September, Russia’s President Putin ordered a 180,000 increase in the regular size of the Russian army to 1.5 million active servicemen. A former general told the Sunday Express that “anyone who thinks an army of 76,000 will cut the mustard is naive, ” adding: “Ukraine is in trouble because it has the tech but is running out of troops.”
Sir Jeremy warned the “big lesson of the last century is autocrats and dictators only respect strength, and that’s why we as a country need to show strength, resolve and confidence”. He said he believes the “appalling” pull-out from Afghanistan was “one of the things that persuaded Putin to take the risk of invading Ukraine”.
He said Britain can be “optimistic this will be a century in which freedom and democracy win out” but he warned it is “not going to happen automatically” and the country needs to “step forward”.
His concern about the size of the Regular Army was echoed by Alan Mendoza of the Henry Jackson Society.
He said: “It seems obvious that in an era of multiplying threats that may require UK responses in different global theatres – while still maintaining homeland defence – an enhanced regular army size will be required. When we compare the size of the army to the last time the UK faced a similar situation during the Cold War it is clear that a 76,000 size simply won’t pass muster.”
Former tank commander Justin Crump, of Sibylline strategic risk group warmed: “It’s all very well talking about neutralizing enemy drones, but what happens after that? I bet the Army is going to wish it had more troops to follow on and finish the job.”
A Reform UK spokesman warned that the Regular Army is on course to be around 20 times smaller than Russia’s force, adding “This Government needs to set out an ambitious target of recruitment and set out a clear road map on how it will achieve this.”
However, former head of the British Army, General Lord Dannatt, said that while Sir Jeremy was not “wrong” the country needed to be “realistic”.
He said: “The most important thing is that the soldiers we already have are properly equipped. There hasn’t been any serious inward investment in the Army for the past 20 years.”
Lord Dannatt added: “Of course mass matters — but poorly trained, badly led and ill-equipped troops die in their thousands. Just look at what’s happening to the Russians.”
Defence Secretary John Healey laid out his plans to grow the Regular Army on Monday, stating: “We inherited a long-running recruitment crisis, following 14 years of Tory cuts to full-time troops. Reversing the decline will take time, but we are acting to stem the loss and aiming to increase the British Army to at least 76,000 full-time soldiers in the next Parliament.”
Former Conservative Defence Minister Mark Francois said that if the Government wants to recruit more soldiers it needs to take action to protect them from vexatious prosecutions.
He said: “Governments across the West are struggling to recruit – and, crucially, then retain – enough soldiers. At present, for every 100 soldiers who join the British Army, approximately 130 are leaving.
“If Labour genuinely wanted to improve recruitment and retention and grow the Army, the first step they should take is to scrap their appalling plan to repeal the Northern Ireland Legacy Act, which protects our Northern Ireland Veterans from endless lawfare.
“Why would anyone want to soldier for a Labour government of human rights lawyers that’s evidently more pro-Sinn Fein than pro-veteran?”
A petition calling for the protection of Northern Ireland veterans now has more than 134,000 signatures.
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “Through the Strategic Defence Review, we are ending the hollowing out of our Armed Forces and we will lead in a stronger, more lethal NATO. That includes halting the long-term decline in the size of the Army and, for the first time in a generation, aiming to increase full time troop numbers to at least 76,000 in the next Parliament.
“Strength isn’t just measured in numbers of soldiers. Over the next decade, the Army will become 10 times more lethal by harnessing precision firepower, surveillance technology, autonomy, and digital connectivity.”
Former Foreign Secretary Sir Jeremy said Ukraine possessed the “most powerful weapon of all”.
He said: “They are fighting for their own existence, for their own freedom. Compare the motivation of the Ukrainian troops to the Russian conscripts who are being thrown into the meat-grinder day in day out.
“I think we can be optimistic this will be a century in which freedom and democracy win out. But it’s not going to happen automatically and that means the countries that believe in these values [and] support the values that the Express has always supported [need] to step forward and I think one of them should be Britain.”
Sir Jeremy said the threat of China invading Taiwan cannot be ruled out. He claimed China’s Xi Jinping “will be wondering” whether President Trump “would actually be prepared to go to the defence of Taiwan”.
He added: “That is why in a dangerous world those of us who believe in democratic values need to get stronger. We need to be honest with our populations about the need to rearm.”