The British Armed Forces’ crisis has deepened after an influential insider claimed its services had been “depleted out of huge naivety”, as Iran made a bold admission over the UK.
Lieutenant General Sir Simon Mayall told LBC this morning that the UK’s military “should be bigger than they are given the situation globally” after Iran claimed a British vessel may sink following a missile attack.
On Monday, the crew of a UK-registered cargo ship were forced to evacuate following missile damage in the Red Sea, which was carried out by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
Taking to the airwaves on Nick Ferrari’s show, Sir Simon was pressed on whether the UK could react and what the state of British reserves was actually looking like.
He said: “Relative to our defense needs, relative to our position in the world, relative to the importance of continued maritime trade, our Navy has sadly been neglected.”
He was then asked if it was “dangerously neglected”, to which Sir Simon replied: “I would argue it is from a national point of view.
“Grant Shapps pointed out we are technically under Prosperity Guardian, under Coalition, the Americans are there, we’re there – we are the leading European power.
“There are many, many ships in Europe. The European response has been pretty poor frankly.”
The military man added: “For a nation our size, and our wealth, all its services should be bigger than they are given the situation globally in all dimensions. Be it cyber, be it air, be it land, be it sea.
“But we have chosen, as every Western nation has really, to deplete our Armed Forces over the last 30 years out of a huge naivety.”
The vessel targeted on Sunday was identified as the Rubymar and Houthis said it may be at risk of sinking – a claim that could not be independently verified.
The ship was struck, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre (UKMTO), which said it sustained “an explosion in close proximity to the vessel”.
The organisation added: “Military authorities report crew have abandoned the vessel.
“Vessel at anchor and all crew are safe.”
US Central Command also reported that on Sunday evening “two anti-ship ballistic missiles were launched from Iranian-backed Houthi terrorist-controlled areas of Yemen toward MV Rubymar, a Belize-flagged, UK-owned bulk carrier. One of the missiles struck the vessel, causing damage”.
It added: “The ship issued a distress call and a coalition warship along with another merchant vessel responded to the call to assist the crew of the MV Rubymar.
“The crew was transported to a nearby port by the merchant vessel.”
