![\"Lord](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Lord-Dannatt-6883925.jpg\" "\\"Lord")
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Lord Dannatt with reporter David Williamson (Image: -)<\/p>\n
Lord Dannatt, the former head of the Army<\/a>, wants Britain to avoid repeating fateful mistakes which left the nation dangerously weakened<\/a> in the years leading up to World War 2.<\/p>\n \u201cI’m afraid that we are vulnerable<\/a> right across the piece,\u201d he warns. \u201cThe Army, Navy and the Air Force have effectively never been smaller in peacetime than they are now.\u201d<\/p>\n He sees worrying parallels between the state of the armed forces<\/a> today and the way the country was ill-prepared to take on Nazi Germany. In his 2023 book with Robert Lyman, Victory to Defeat, he detailed how the British Army went from defeating the German military in World War 1<\/a> to being forced to evacuate at Dunkirk in 1940. He argues that after years of failing to invest in our defences Britain finally realised \u201cHitler was a threat\u201d and the \u201crearmament process began just in time\u201d.<\/p>\n Warning that we are in a \u201csimilar situation\u201d today, with Vladimir Putin<\/a> threatening Europe\u2019s security, he asks: \u201cHow much time have we got left to be just in time? Are we drinking in the last chance saloon?\u201d<\/p>\n The 75-year-old warns that failing to maintain a strong military can result in colossal cost, pointing to how Britain went from investing less than 3% of GDP in defence before the war with Germany to spending 46% in 1940 when the country was \u201cfighting for our very survival\u201d. Today, he is calling for Britain to \u201cmassively increase our investment in all types of drones for surveillance, for reconnaissance, for attack, and for defence\u201d.<\/p>\n But he adds: \u201cJust because there are new technologies, it doesn’t mean to say that the old technologies can be dispensed with. Main battle tanks and armoured infantry fighting vehicles and traditional gun and rocket artillery will still be needed in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more: Behind the scenes story of how Keir Starmer’s ‘stupid’ Chagos deal was stopped <\/a><\/p>\n Read more: Britain must stand up to Brussels and not surrender sovereignty of Cyprus bases <\/a><\/p>\n Lord Dannatt Discusses Concerns On Armed Forces <\/p>\n The number of regular soldiers has crashed 153,000 in 1990 to just 73,790 at the start of the year.<\/p>\n \u201cYears ago we said the critical mass below which we must not fall was 100,000,\u201d he notes, adding: \u201cI would argue that getting back towards that 100,000 figure is a sensible objective to move towards, supplemented by a much larger mobilisable reserve.\u201d<\/p>\n Plans for a ballistic missile defence system were shelved in the late 1990s, he says, and now this is an \u201cacknowledged weakness\u201d. It would be \u201cphenomenally expensive\u201d to roll out a new system to protect Britain; difficult choices await about what locations should be prioritised for defence and there is \u201curgent work\u201d to be done.<\/p>\n Looking back to the days when the country invested close to 5% of GDP in defence, he says: \u201cWe deterred further aggression from the Soviet Union, and the Cold War never went hot.\u201d<\/p>\n Right now, the Government has a commitment to spend 2.5% of GDP on defence by April next year, alongside an ambition to invest 3% in the next parliament.<\/p>\n Getting back to \u201csomething approaching 5%\u201d, he suggests, may be the \u201cprice we ought to be paying for our security\u201d.<\/p>\n Where can the money come from to boost defence expenditure? Lord Dannatt, who was Chief of the General Staff from 2006 to 2009, lays out the hard choices.<\/p>\n \u201cWe might all have to share the burden of increased defence by paying a few pence more on the basic rate of income tax. But otherwise, it’s a question of reordering Government spending priorities. And one has to look at the burgeoning, out-of-control welfare budget.\u201d<\/p>\n It is one thing to have \u201cthe best welfare system in the world\u201d, he remarks, \u201cbut if it’s under Russian domination, it\u2019s a waste of time.\u201d<\/p>\n Lord Dannatt warns time could be running out for Britain to rearm (Image: Tim Merry)<\/p>\n Lord Dannatt\u2019s first tour of duty was in Northern Ireland in 1971. There is now immense concern throughout the veterans community that those who served in the province during the years of IRA terror could face vexatious prosecutions. This has intensified as a result of Labour\u2019s decision to repeal the so-called Legacy Act, which was intended to offer conditional immunity to those who served.<\/p>\n On his last day as head of the Army, Lord Dannatt was quizzed by two members of the Police Service of Northern Ireland about actions by his platoon in Belfast in 1973.<\/p>\n Describing the grilling as a \u201ccomplete waste of time\u201d, he says: \u201cIf even the Chief of the General Staff is going to be quizzed in an unnecessary fashion, one worries about a 75-year-old former private who may not be able to recall what happened, who may feel under huge pressure and be extraordinarily worried. And frankly, we’ve got to find a mechanism to stop all that.\u201d<\/p>\n He agrees that if \u201csubstantive evidence\u201d is uncovered then a case should be reopened, but he argues that Sinn Fein \u2013 which during the Troubles served as the political wing of the IRA and now leads the Stormont Government \u2013 is on a mission to rewrite history and paint UK forces as the \u201coppressor\u201d.<\/p>\n The retired general fears both Vladimir Putin and the US President have fallen victim to \u201chubris\u201d, thinking \u201cthey can use the military arm to suddenly achieve something that hasn’t been properly thought through\u201d.<\/p>\n Condemning an \u201coversight of ridiculous proportions\u201d, he states it should have been clear that \u201cthe Iranians could put their foot on the neck of the West by controlling the Strait of Hormuz\u201d and cutting off oil supplies.<\/p>\n Looking East, Lord Dannatt warns of the danger if a ceasefire is agreed in Ukraine<\/a> which freezes the conflict but does not revolve it, pointing to the multi-decades stand-off between North and South Korea.<\/p>\n \u201cIf Ukraine stops with a ceasefire and there’s no peace agreement, just think about this,\u201d he says. \u201cThe United States still has 25,000 soldiers in South Korea guaranteeing that ceasefire. When Keir Starmer<\/a> said he’s ready and willing to put British boots on the ground to guarantee a ceasefire, is he willing to keep them there for 75 years?\u201d<\/p>\n A ceasefire, he warns, would allow \u201cRussian armed forces to reset, reconstitute themselves and either push again in Ukraine or perhaps push in the Baltics or Scandinavia or the High North or wherever\u201d.<\/p>\n Lord Dannatt, while Chief of the General Staff, in Afghanistan (Image: PA)<\/p>\n Despite the severity of the threats facing the nation, Lord Dannatt, a devout Christian, burns with hope for a better future.<\/p>\n He describes how in August 1971, when stationed in Northern Ireland, \u201cthe violence was so deep-seated, the hatred was so deep-seated, one couldn’t see a way forward\u201d.<\/p>\n But, he adds: \u201cOne hoped there might be better times. And that hope has been realised. And I was in Belfast a month ago and was able to go up and down the Crumlin road, up and down the Falls road, without fear at all. Better times have come.\u201d<\/p>\n Warming to the theme, he adds: \u201cMy wife and I started married life in Berlin in 1977, when that city was divided, when Germany was divided. One hoped that better times might come for Berlin and for Germany and for Europe.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd that hope was realised when the Berlin Wall came down and Germany was reunified and the Soviet Union collapsed.<\/p>\n \u201cSo in times of great difficulty, when you can\u2019t see your way forward, I think it is legitimate to hope there might be better times and to work towards the hope of better times.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Lord](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/6883808.jpg\" "\\"Lord")
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![\"Lord](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/britains-king-charles-iii-walks-with-normandy-memorial-trust-chair-of-trustees-general-6883815.jpg\" "\\"Lord")
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