Starmer handed chilling six-word warning by ex-army chief over UK’s ‘run down’ military

By Ciaran McGrath, Senior News Reporter

Lord Richard Dannatt and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (Image: GETTY)

Sir Keir Starmer has been warned he faces being “consigned to the bin of history” unless the Government commits to a significant increase in defence spending.

Lord Richard Dannatt, who as Chief of the General Staff was the professional head of the British army from 2006 to 2009, said the budget need to be boosted to at least 3.5% of GDP - well above the Government’s current ambition of reaching 2.5% from its current 2.3% level.

The Government has promised that its Strategic Defence Review will set out a “pathway” to achieve the 2.5% target, but Lord Dannatt said the process would be a “failure” unless it went even higher.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Week in Westminster on Saturday: “Unless Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves can find ways of producing more money, well beyond 2.5% towards 3% or 3.5% for starters on our defence budget, then this Strategic Defence Review is going to be hollow, it’s going to be a failure and, frankly, it’ll consign Keir Starmer to the bin of history."

Lord Dannatt warned that Britain’s military was “so run down” it would struggle to lead a future peacekeeping mission in Ukraine.

He estimated such an operation could require around 40,000 UK troops - numbers he said simply did not exist.

NATO troops take part in Operation Steadfast Dart 2025 this week (Image: Getty Images)

He continued: “We just haven’t got that number available. Our military is so run down at the present moment, numerically and as far as capability and equipment is concerned, it would potentially be quite embarrassing.

“If we were to deploy 10,000 troops, each rotation for six months, that would effectively tie up 30,000 or 40,000 troops - and we just haven’t got that number available.

“So there are some big issues here that today’s politicians won’t really have considered.”

Meanwhile, former NATO Deputy Supreme Allied Commander General Sir Richard Shirreff suggested defence spending would need to return to Cold War levels of around 4% of GDP.

British army departs for largest NATO exercise since Cold War

The retired officer told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the UK and its allies were facing a “defining moment” because Europe “cannot trust or rely on the United States” in the way it once did.

Gen Sir Richard argued that America had “effectively given up leadership of the free world” due to Donald Trump’s approach to the Ukraine crisis.

Setting out what he believed was required, he said: “We’re talking about moving back to levels of defence spending not seen since the Cold War.”

He acknowledged this would require “real sacrifice” but insisted it was necessary: “Unless it’s made we are not going to be able to enjoy peace” because Russia would continue to pose a threat.

Gen Sir Richard added: “The only way we are going to enjoy peace is through effective deterrence, a NATO band of deterrence from the Baltic to the Black Sea, and that will need to be paid for."