Lord Stirrup, who was chief of the defence staff between 2006 and 2010, has warned that the UK is increasingly seen as a ‘paper tiger’ on defence, including among close allies
Britain is increasingly perceived as a “paper tiger” on defence, even among close allies, a former military chief has cautioned. Lord Stirrup, who headed the armed forces between 2006 and 2010, contended that the UK “talks a good game but seem less and less able to play one”.
Whilst Sir Keir Starmer has stated the country must “go faster” on defence spending, the independent crossbencher emphasised the need for action “to match the rhetoric”.
This follows reports that the Prime Minister was contemplating advancing the target of increasing defence spending to 3% of GDP, in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has now entered its fifth year.
Both the current leader of Britain’s armed forces and his German equivalent recently made the “moral” case for rearmament. During a debate on resetting the UK’s relationship with the EU post-Brexit, Lord Stirrup underscored the need for an “innovative, agile and rapidly scalable defence industrial base across Europe”.
He said: “Without such an industrial hinterland, our armed forces will quickly become impotent in any sustained conflict through lack of the wherewithal to fight.”
Given this, the peer expressed it was “very disappointing” to see UK companies excluded from full participation in the EU’s £150 billion euros (£130 billion) defence loans scheme after negotiations collapsed at the end of last year over a money dispute.
Lord Stirrup declared: “This was a significant setback for the kind of integrated defence industrial enterprise we shall need on this continent if we are to develop the strategic capabilities for which we are still over-reliant on the United States and in which the UK should play a leading role.
“We must do better going forward. But if we are to do better and play a leading role, we must recognise that, in terms of defence, we are increasingly viewed as something of a paper tiger, even among our closest friends in the EU.
“We talk a good game but seem less and less able to play one. That is not exactly a leadership position.”
Referencing a recent global security conference, he continued: “In Munich recently, the Prime Minister said that European nations need to increase defence spending further and faster. Amen to that, but where is the UK action to match the rhetoric?”.
“We need to argue for a much more coherent approach to defence industrial capability within Europe as a whole. But if we are to convince, we must at the very least put our money where our mouth is.”
Contributing to the same debate, former UK national security adviser Lord Ricketts emphasised the crucial nature of security and defence cooperation with the EU.
The independent crossbencher stated: “This is, of course, the area where progress is most urgently needed in the face of Putin’s war in Ukraine, now entering its fifth year, and Trump’s total unpredictability.”
He continued: “Closer consultations are useful, of course, but translating them into real improvements in military capability is much more difficult.”
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