![]() Postwar conscription was very unpopular and was ended in 1960. Is this such a moment? Many will be unpersuaded, to put it mildly. Britain’s military has only relied on conscription for about 25 years out of its more than 300-year history, and then only in times of highest national need. A citizen army of any size could mean a conscript army. This is all very well, but it faces two large and connected problems in the real world. Britain’s armed forces minister, James Heappey, has spoken of the need to prepare a combined force of 500,000 troops and civilians. His sense of urgency, although not all his proposals, also reflect real debate in military and defence circles, and not just in the UK. Now, six months before he is due to step down, he has done so again, more strikingly. He has complained about army cuts in the past. He wants the political parties to hear him. Gen Sanders knows that this is an election year. This is dramatic language, as it is intended to be. In the general’s view, it was not just desirable but essential for Britain to follow Sweden’s example and take “preparatory steps to place our societies on a war footing”. Even a force of 120,000 would not be capable of fighting an all-out war. The current professional army, set to fall to 72,500 by 2025, is too small for that. Britain therefore needed to “train and equip” a new “citizen army” that would be ready to fight a land war against Russia. In a speech on Tuesday, Gen Sanders said that armed citizens still win modern wars, just as in the last century. As an era of peace ebbs, and with a widening prospect of an era of war, how should nations, including Britain, respond?īy being ready to mobilise against Russia, says the head of Britain’s army, Gen Sir Patrick Sanders. ![]() Across the Atlantic, a second Trump presidency is moving closer. Neither Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nor the renewed Middle East conflict will end soon or conclusively. ![]() Few will dispute that the international situation has darkened and is darkening. ![]()
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