Head of the UK armed forces tells MPs ‘we don’t have a complete plan for how we would mobilise the National Health Service’
The NHS is not ready to handle the British military casualties that would occur in a war with Russia, the head of the UK’s armed forces has warned.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, the Chief of the Defence Staff, last month echoed calls in the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) – essentially a shopping list for war – for the whole of society to prepare for the increasing probability of a Russian attack on a Nato country.
But Knighton on Monday warned that the NHS was not ready for the “mass casualties” that would occur in an “all-out” Nato war with Russia.
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He also admitted that the plans set out in the SDR – such as boosting cyber defences, new nuclear submarines, increased troop numbers and more munitions factories – are unaffordable under current defence budgets.
His comments echo concerns raised by one of its authors in comments to The i Paper last week, although Knighton refused to comment on reports that he warned Sir Keir Starmer of a £28bn funding shortfall last month.
The apparent funding gap has sparked fresh concerns about the UK’s preparedness for war.
Gaps in ‘specialist’ medical skills
Appearing at the Commons Defence Committee, Knighton highlighted “a number of gaps in specialist skills” in the Defence Medical Services, which ensures armed forces personnel are fit to fight.
But he went on: “If we ended up in an all-out conflict under Nato Article 5 and sustained mass casualties, the defence medical system is not set up to do that – it would have to plug into the National Health Service.”
Knighton added: “I have every confidence, given the way the NHS and the brilliant people in the NHS and the Defence Medical Services responded historically, that we would do that.
“But right now we don’t have a complete plan for how we would mobilise the National Health Service in the event of armed conflict at a Nato Article 5 level.”
He added: “We don’t have a holistic national plan for how we would mobilise the National Health Service in times of all-out war in Europe.”
£28bn funding gap in MoD budget
Knighton, meanwhile, refused to comment on the reported £28bn shortfall in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) budget over the next four years.
The funding gap is said to have prompted Sir Keir Starmer to order a key MoD document, the defence investment plan (Dip), to be overhauled.
The Dip, which will set out how the Government’s long-term defence plans will be paid for, was originally due to be published in the autumn.
Knighton told the committee the MoD “does not have a date” for when the plan will be released, but added the department was “working flat out” on it, and was considering both cuts to existing programmes as well as funding boosts as it looks to boost war readiness.
“What you have to do is make some judgments about what you prioritise – how big the contingencies are going to be,” Knighton said.
“All of those things are options under consideration but also so is the level of ambition we might take and these are just straightforward facts.”
Under questioning, he admitted: “Could we deliver the whole of the programme we currently have and do all of the things that we would want to in the SDR with the money we have got – no.”
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Elsewhere, the committee asked Knighton whether he believed British soldiers would be safe and well-resourced enough to take on peacekeeping duties in Ukraine, should the war conclude.
“We won’t deploy our armed forces if we’re not happy that they’re going to be safe, and I’m confident, having been closely involved in the work on the ‘coalition of the willing’ planning, that we have a means of meeting the requirements that have been set, and this additional funding will reduce the risk.”