UK has no plan for defending nation in event of war, military chief reveals

“We don't have a complete national defence plan yet”

Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton made the admission in spite of the threat of conflict with Russia, and at a time when Donald Trump is threatening to seize Greenland.

Knighton said that the Ministry of Defence lacks funding to cover its equipment programme as well as additional ambitions set out in a sweeping review of defence published in June, as he answered wide ranging questions from MPs on Monday.

The head of the armed forces told members of the defence select committee not to “put words in my mouth” as he was pressed on reports that he had warned the prime minister before Christmas that defence has a £28bn hole in its budget over the next four years and would be required to make significant cuts without more money.

“If we wanted to do everything that's currently in the programme and do all the extra things in the SDR [Strategic Defence Review], could we do that with the budget that we've got? The answer is no”, Sir Richard said.

During a two-hour grilling, he confirmed that Britain has yet to revive a modern version of the Government War Book.

This was a comprehensive set of plans for the whole country to transition from peace to war, and it was drawn up during the First World War and maintained until the turn of the century

However, the UK has yet to draw up a new defence plan, despite the return of conflict to Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The defence plan is something all NATO member states are required to maintain, as the alliance is the cornerstone of UK defence and security policy, with allies willing to mobilise in the defence of each other.

According to Sir Richard Knighton, the main reason the country has been left so exposed is that successive governments reaped a so-called peace dividend since the collapse of the Soviet Union back in 1991 and shifted funding into other priorities, such as welfare and health.

He said that “we don't have a complete national defence plan yet”, as Mike Martin, a Liberal Democrat member of the defence select committee, asked him if we should have one, to which Sir Richard responded that “yeah, absolutely. And the government is committed to doing that.”

The defence chief said that “I think that it is a manifestation of the peace dividend”, when he was pushed on why the UK does not have one.

“One of the most obvious is that since the end of the Cold War, we have not prioritised those matters. And so as a consequence, the government, for many years, of many hues, has not focused its efforts on developing that kind of plan”.

“I'm pleased to say that partly as a consequence of what's in the Strategic Defence Review, that is changing”, he added.

Air Chief Marshal Knighton said this was a job that was being overseen by the Cabinet Office because it involves the whole of government, when asked when such a national defence plan would be ready.

The military component, which the Ministry of Defence is responsible for, would be finalised this year, he said.

Sir Richard added that there is no plan to mobilise civilian doctors and nurses as well as hospitals to treat wounded troops and civilians in the event of a war in the UK or anywhere in Europe.

“We don't have a holistic, national plan for how we would mobilise the National Health Service in times of all-out war in Europe,” he concluded.

Last year, Knighton warned that in order not to risk losing advantage in the Atlantic, Britain must “step up” on defence.