65-year-old military veterans face being mobilized under new powers to prepare the Armed Forces for war.
The Government is expected to increase the age at which the nation’s group of retired soldiers, known as the strategic reserve, can be called up from 55 to 65.
The new measures are being introduced as part of a new draft of the Armed Forces, which will be published in Parliament later.
The changes will make it easier to mobilize tens of thousands of former military personnel.
The Army has shrunk to its smallest number in more than 200 years, with just over 70,000 full-time, fully trained troops ready to be sent to the front.
According to the existing rules, the group of retired soldiers can be called upon in case of “national danger, major emergency or attack in the United Kingdom”.
However, under the new changes, this will be lowered to “war preparations”, which is already the limit for reservists who have recently left the Armed Forces.
The measures come amid fears that Britain could be dragged into a full-scale war with Russia within a matter of years.
Defense and security chiefs have repeatedly warned of the potential for full-scale war in recent months.
Al Carns, the minister of the Armed Forces, said shortly before Christmas that the war “is already knocking on the door of Europe” and that Great Britain had to be prepared for a conflict that was “bigger” than those fought in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Last week, the United Kingdom announced that it would be deploying troops to Ukraine, along with France, if and when a ceasefire agreement is reached between Moscow and Kiev.
While it is not clear exactly how many troops may be involved, reports have suggested that up to 7,500 UK personnel could be deployed.
If this figure is accurate, it would effectively mean that around 21,000 personnel would be committed to Ukraine – with a cohort deployed, another in training and a third recovering for operations there.
However, military analysts have warned that such a deployment would stretch the Armed Forces and effectively become an “all Army effort” to contain it.
Sources in the Ministry of Defense have pushed back against suggestions that 7,500 troops could be deployed, with insiders saying this could be lower.
£28 billion funding black hole
On Friday, the Government promised to spend £200 million to upgrade armored vehicles and buy new kit in preparation for the peacekeeping mission.
The proposed changes will come into effect next year if approved by Parliament, the BBC reported.
The Government estimates that there are approximately 95,000 people within the strategic reserve, including veterans from the Royal Navy, the Army, and the RAF.
These are different for the reserve forces, which include personnel who volunteer part-time to serve in the military. Currently, there are almost 32,000 active reservists across the three wings of the Armed Forces.
The military has struggled to recruit and retain personnel in recent years. The Army has suffered the most, having been reduced from more than 100,000 personnel in 2010 to just over 70,000 now.
The most recent figures show a very marginal increase in the number of people joining the military. But it is still in the lowest decline since the Napoleonic Wars.
Meanwhile, the Armed Forces are struggling with a £28 billion funding black hole over the next four years despite plans to boost defense spending.
Sir Keir Starmer was alerted to the shortage by the head of the military, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, just days before Christmas.
On Monday, Sir Richard admitted that Britain lacked the money to fulfill its military ambitions, which were set out by the PM in June as part of the Strategic Defense Review.
The Chief of Defense Staff told MPs on the Commons defense committee: “I’ll be completely honest with you – we’re not going to be able to do everything we want to do as quickly as we can do it.
“If we wanted to do everything that is currently in the program and do all the extra things in the SDR [strategic defence review]can we do this with the budget we have? The answer is no.”
Uk is not ready to defend herself
This is despite Sir Keir announcing last year that defense spending will rise from 2.3 percent of GDP to 2.6 percent by 2027. Looser promises were also made in the strategic defense review to reach 3 percent in the early 1930s and 3.5 percent by 2035.
As part of the Strategic Defense Review, Sir Keir has pledged to build 12 new nuclear attack submarines and spend billions more on new defense technology.
Britain’s military spending is the subject of increasing criticism, with a parliamentary report last year warning that the country was ill-prepared to defend itself against attack.
Earlier this month, the UK fell in the global rankings of defense spending, and is now the 12th largest NATO spender in terms of GDP compared to third in 2021.
News of the latest shortfall is said to have prompted Sir Keir to order a key MoD document, the defense investment plan, to be reviewed.
The Defense Investment Plan, which will set out how the Government’s long-term defense plans will be paid for, was originally due to be published in the autumn. However, it now appears to be stuck in financial purgatory, with Sir Richard telling MPs that the MoD “have no date” for when it will be released.
This has sparked concerns that the Armed Forces may soon be forced to make major cuts to balance the books.
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