Lt Gen Benoît Desmeulles, the commander of France’s 1st Army Corps, said the move to save £30m is a ‘very, very bad’ idea that will harm the UK’s ability to fight
Andy Burnham’s decision to cut Army training to save £30m is a ‘recipe for disaster’, according to a NATO chief.
Lt Gen Benoît Desmeulles, the commander of France’s 1st Army Corps, said it was a ‘very, very bad’ idea that potentially harmed the UK’s ability to fight.
Earlier this month it emerged crucial live-fire and tank training was being suspended by the Army to save cash. Asked if it was a mistake Lt Gen Desmeulles said: “Yes – it’s a very, very bad thing that you make the savings on the exercise.”
Speaking at the International Institute for Strategic Studies summit in Prague he said: “I’m sad for my English friends. “We had the same a few years ago. It’s not a good thing. No training equals no ‘fight-tonight’ capacity. If we are not good at our job and we don’t have the equipment that’s a recipe for disaster. So it’s a very bad thing.”
In April the French 1st Army Corps was put to the test during the Orion 26 exercise with Lt Gen Desmeulles overseeing 120,000 NATO troops from France, Poland, Italy, Spain and Britain.
The war game proved France’s ability to lead a European force during a major war. The corps would be one of NATO’s main forces to respond to any invasion by Russia. Hundreds of troops are believed to have been affected by the temporary spending cuts.
The measures will also hit thousands of reserve soldiers with volunteers ordered to serve on fewer days due to budget cuts.
A battalion in 12th Brigade was told ‘all training’ had been stopped until at least April, sources said.
New Prime Minister Burnham is facing intense scrutiny over the Government’s military spending plans.
He has yet to commit to spending 3% of GDP on defence by 2030 despite calls from military chiefs and has said any increase must not come at the expense of the welfare budget.
Chancellor John Healey resigned as defence secretary from Sir Keir Starmer’s government earlier this year over the Treasury’s unwillingness to meet targets.
Stuart Anderson, Conservative shadow minister for war readiness, said: “I am particularly concerned about the Labour Government cutting the training budget for our Army.
“But when a senior French army commander warns that cutting British Army training is a ‘recipe for disaster’ this is as concerning as it is embarrassing.
“The first duty of any government is to defend the realm yet Labour is cutting training to save £30m.
“This is short-sighted and foolish. We need a battle-ready Army.”
Labour has so far only budgeted to increase defence spending to 2.7% of GDP by 2027-28.
The Ministry of Defence had not commented.