65-year-old military veterans face mobilization under new powers to prepare armed forces for war.
The government is to raise the age at which the national pool 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 Armed Forces Bill, which will be published in Parliament later.
The changes will facilitate the mobilization of tens of thousands of ex-servicemen.
The army has shrunk to its lowest number in 200 years, with just over 70,000 full-time, fully trained troops ready to be deployed on the front line.
Under existing rules, the group of retired soldiers can be called upon in the event of a “national danger, major emergency or attack in the UK”.
However, under the new changes, this will be reduced to “warfare training”, which is already the threshold 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 few years.
Defense and security chiefs have repeatedly warned of the potential for full-scale war in recent months.
Al Carns, the Armed Forces Secretary, said just before Christmas that war is “already knocking on Europe’s door” and that Britain must be prepared for a conflict that is “bigger” than the one being fought in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Last week, the United Kingdom announced it would deploy troops to Ukraine, alongside France, if and when a ceasefire agreement is reached between Moscow and Kiev.
While it is unclear 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 employed in Ukraine – with one cohort deployed, another in training and a third recuperating for operations there.
However, military analysts warned that such a deployment would stretch the armed forces and effectively become an “army-wide effort” to maintain.
Defense Ministry sources dismissed suggestions that 7,500 troops could be deployed, with insiders saying it could be less.
£28 billion for a black hole
On Friday, the government pledged to spend £200m upgrading armored vehicles and buying new kit to prepare for the peacekeeping mission.
The proposed changes would come into effect next year if approved by Parliament, the BBC reported.
The government estimates there are around 95,000 people in the strategic reserve, including veterans from the Royal Navy, Army and RAF.
These are different from the reserve forces, which comprise personnel who volunteer part-time to serve in the military. Currently, there are nearly 32,000 active reservists in the three branches of the Armed Forces.
The military has struggled to recruit and retain personnel in recent years. The military has suffered the most, falling from over 100,000 personnel in 2010 to just over 70,000 today.
The latest figures show a very marginal increase in the number of people joining the military. But it is still at its lowest ebb since the Napoleonic Wars.
Meanwhile, the Armed Forces face a £28 billion funding black hole over the next four years, despite plans to increase defense spending.
Sir Keir Starmer was warned of the shortfall by the head of the army, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, days before Christmas.
On Monday, Sir Richard admitted that Britain lacked the money to meet its military ambitions, which were set out by the Prime Minister in June as part of the Defense Strategy Review.
The Chief of the Defense Staff told MPs on the Commons defense committee: “I will be completely honest with you – we will not be able to do everything we would like to do as quickly as we would like to do.
“If we wanted to do everything that is currently in the program and do all the additional stuff from SDR [strategic defence review]could we do this with the budget we have? The answer is no.”
Britain is not ready to defend itself
This is despite Sir Keir announcing last year that defense spending would rise from 2.3% of GDP to 2.6% by 2027. Weaker commitments were also made in the strategic defense review to reach 3% in the early 2030s and 3.5% by 2035.
As part of the Strategic Defense Review, Sir Keir promised to build 12 new nuclear attack submarines and spend billions more on new defense technology.
Britain’s military spending has come under 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 defense spending rankings and is now NATO’s 12th biggest spender in terms of GDP, down from 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 overhauled.
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 “do not have a date” for when it will be launched.
This has raised concerns that the Armed Forces may soon be forced to make major cuts to balance the books.
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