The UK currently has no plan for how to mobilise doctors, nurses and hospitals in the event of all-out war, the UK’s top military chief has admitted, in yet another sign of Britain’s unpreparedness for a possible conflict.
Giving evidence in front of the Commons defence select committee, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton said the UK currently doesn’t have a “complete plan for how we would mobilise the National Health Service in the event of armed conflict at an Article Five level”.
Sir Richard also admitted there is not enough money to continue all planned military programmes on top of doing everything outlined in the strategic defence review (SDR), but became visibly irritated when MPs suggested the military may have to make cuts.
It comes amid mounting concern over the state of Britain’s hollowed out armed forces in the face of growing threats from Russia and China – despite the prime minister’s repeated promises to make Britain “battle ready”.
Asked whether he has any concerns about Britain’s ability to treat wounded casualties, Sir Richard said: “If we ended up in an all-out conflict under NATO Article Five and sustained mass casualties, the defensive medical system is not set up to do that. It would have to plug into the National Health Service… and at the moment, we don’t have a full plan for how we would do that.
“Now, I have every confidence – given the way the NHS and the brilliant people in the NHS and the defensive medical services have 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 an Article Five level.”
Asked when we are likely to have a plan in place, he said one is likely to “evolve” over the next 18 months, adding that the NHS and the defensive medical service “already work very closely together”.
Sir Richard took over as Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) in September and is responsible for the delivery of the SDR published in June.
The UK has pledged to boost defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2027 in order to plug gaps in Britain’s ailing military.
It comes amid increasing global volatility – with the US president launching a raid on Caracas and capturing the Venezuelan president – and just days after Britain and France signed a historic agreement committing to putting boots on the ground in Ukraine as soon as any ceasefire with Russia comes into effect.
Earlier this month, it was reported that Sir Richard told the prime minister in a meeting before Christmas that the Ministry of Defence is facing a £28bn shortfall in funding for the next four years.
The military chief said he would not comment on reports about the meeting, but added: “I will tell you that we did meet the prime minister in December, and we did talk about a number of issues associated with defence, including the defence investment plan, but the material that was discussed at that meeting was classified secret, and so I’m not going to talk about that in public.”
The shortfall is said to have prompted Sir Keir to order a key MoD document, the defence investment plan (Dip), to be overhauled – but Sir Richard said no date has yet been set for when the plan will be published.
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 autumn.
While the CDS told the committee the MoD “do not have a date” for when the plan will be released, he said the department was “working flat out” on it.
He added: “I thought you might ask me about the speculation in the media about the cost of the programme, and speculation over particular numbers, and that’s exactly what it is: it is speculation.”
Admitting that there is not enough money to do “do everything that we would wish to do as quickly as we might want to do it”, Sir Richard said: “If we wanted to do everything that’s covered in the program and do all the extra things [outlined in the SDR], could we do that with the budget that we’ve got? The answer is no.”
He added: “The prime minister’s commitment to three and a half percent of GDP, that’s unprecedented. But I’ll be completely honest with you that we will not be able to do everything that we would wish to do as quickly as we might want to do it within that envelope.”
But asked by MPs whether this means there will need to be cuts, Sir Richard hit back accusing them of “putting words in my mouth”.
Elsewhere, the committee asked Sir Richard whether he believed British soldiers would be safe and well-resourced enough to take on peacekeeping duties in Ukraine, should the war conclude.
He conceded there was “no such thing as zero risk in operational environments”.
But he added: “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.”
Source: UK Politics - www.independent.co.uk
