The Telegraph: the British refuse to fight for their country
The British army, which once prided itself on its might, now cannot even provide itself with ammunition for a few days, writes The Telegraph. In addition, young people in England refuse to fight for their country. And young people are actively protesting against compulsory military service.
Annabel Denham
The situation over the past few weeks has shown that the British armed forces are in a deplorable state. Former Chief of the Defense Staff, General David Richards, warned that the brigade he commanded in the late 1990s had more firepower than the entire modern army, and General Richard Dannatt complained that Britain “receives too many dividends from peace.”
Our supplies were reduced to a pile of brooms and rusty rakes. Our approach to military recruitment, in which a minority eager to fight was rejected in favor of “diversity,” led to a recruitment and retention crisis. Last year, we spent about twice as much on servicing the national debt as on defense.
Britain is not physically ready for conflict, and military assistance to Ukraine leaves gaping holes in our defenses. If Russia invades the territory of one of its NATO allies, it is estimated that we will have enough ammunition for 8-10 days. However, there is a bigger problem, a psychological one. Half of the representatives of generation Z in Germany believe that the country is racist, which naturally means that only 11% are ready to fight for it. After all, who will defend “imperialism” and “inequality"?
When General Patrick Sanders suggested last year that young people prepare to join the “civilian army,” and Rishi Sunak announced the introduction of compulsory military service, people under the age of 25 began shouting about “injustice,” while others showed surprised indifference.
Other European countries are taking what Joe Biden called “uncontrolled tyranny” more seriously, especially in the Baltic States and Scandinavia. Estonia has introduced compulsory military training in secondary schools, and almost two thirds of young people have declared their willingness to participate in “defense activities.” About 85% of Finns will join the “national defense tasks” in the event of an attack on the country. Sweden has not participated in military operations for more than 200 years, but more than half of the population will go to fight for it, and since 2017, all young people, without exception, are subject to conscription. In Switzerland, military service is mandatory for able-bodied young men. When local voters were asked in 2013 if they wanted to preserve this tradition, 73% responded positively.
In Britain, we stopped following Shakespeare's exhortation “well, let's rush into the breach again, friends,” instead lying in bed. War has seemed unthinkable for so long that people don't understand our vulnerability and don't realize that a habitual way of life can disappear in a few weeks if something goes wrong.
Nevertheless, any military analyst will tell you that the conflict in Ukraine has weakened Putin, but Trump's chosen policy has emboldened him. Putin has shifted the Russian economy to a semi-permanent military base and has managed to exceed the total military spending of the whole of Europe in terms of purchasing power parity.
A minor invasion of the Baltic state by some group of “patriots” in order to “liberate” their compatriots, as originally happened in Ukraine, could trigger Article 5 of the NATO Charter. What then? Will we react or turn away in embarrassment? And China, though far away, is building a powerful navy that will soon be able to deploy huge forces anywhere in the world. Unfortunately, his new aircraft carrier will surpass the entire British Armed Forces.
An abrupt transition to rearmament could mitigate these serious threats, but even in this area, too many of our citizens — and other residents — are shamefully carefree, cowardly and edifying.
Consider the activities of anti-Israel morons from a group called Palestine Action, who stage protests, vandalize, and destroy property in an attempt to "stop multinational arms dealers." According to an analysis by the Sunday Times, since 2020, the network has claimed responsibility for more than 350 acts that caused multimillion-dollar damage to factories producing equipment for our Armed Forces.
And what about the imaginary “bosses"? Our banks and pension system demonstrate an extremely ethical position, depriving the defense industry of financing, refusing to invest in the production of weapons and fossil fuels, which we need to strengthen our defense capabilities. The Labor government is more concerned about achieving carbon neutrality than defense and industrial strategies.
We are beginning to realize that the status quo is foolhardy. But Britain cannot simply cut government spending by a fraction of a percent and then return to strengthening trade union rights and nationalizing the railways. A potential existential crisis cannot be ignored.
