Time to ‘think the unthinkable’ and consider UK conscription, says Britain’s former top NATO commander
It’s time to “think the unthinkable” and consider introducing conscription to ready the country for a potential land war, Britain’s former top NATO commander has said.
General Sir Richard Sherriff, ex-deputy supreme allied commander of the military organisation, warned that the UK defence budget is not big enough to expand the armed forces alone.
He told Sky News: “Conscription to most professional soldiers, and I count myself as one, is absolute anathema.
“Britain’s armed forces have traditionally and culturally relied on long service volunteer highly professional soldiers with huge experience – and that is really the way we would all want it to go on.”
File pic: PA
However, given the current global situation and defence funding cuts since the end of the Cold War, he said: “I think we need to get over many of the cultural hang-ups and assumptions, and frankly think the unthinkable.”
“I think we need to go further and look carefully at conscription,” he said.
His intervention follows comments from the Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Patrick Sanders, who suggested British men and women could face a call-up to the army in the event of a war with Russia.
The head of the British Army said UK citizens should be “trained and equipped” to fight in a potential war between NATO and Vladimir Putin’s forces.
Russia ‘determined to build an empire’
Sir Richard said on Thursday that even if Russia was defeated in the war against Ukraine, it is going to remain determined to rebuild another Russian empire, determined to subjugate Ukraine, and once it’s done that, determined to move on to other countries in the former Soviet space, which includes the Baltic states, all members of NATO.
“So there is a real threat to peace in the Euro-Atlantic region – and the way to preserve peace is deterrence, effective military deterrence, conventional and nuclear,” he said.
“That means being ready for the worst case, which is war with Russia. So that means our armed forces have got to have the numbers, the capabilities, the logistics, the training needed.”
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Troop numbers in ‘freefall’
He said the current UK numbers are in “freefall”, standing at around 74,000, with forecasts going even lower.
“It is not an army that is ready and capable of producing a war-fighting division, which I would argue is the currency of high-intensity conflict,” he said.
To get the volunteers needed it would require a huge amount of effort and money, which he said wasn’t there.
“So I think General Sanders is absolutely right to be talking about a citizens volunteer army,” he said.
“I think now, against all the odds though, is the time to start talking, thinking the unthinkable, and really having to think quite carefully about conscription if we are to deliver the numbers needed.”
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Finland – which conscripts at 18 – a good model
Asked by Sky’s Kay Burley when military training would need to start in that hypothetical scenario, he did not say when, but did point to Finland as a country to look at as a starting point.
“If you are going to think about conscription you need to look widely, and look at other countries like Finland, a country with a very small professional army of about 20,000 – but which can expand its forces to about 280,000 through mobilisation,” he said.
“And the way they do it is universal male conscription starting at 18.”
Women are encouraged to volunteer, he said. Soldiers who go no further than private will do six months conscription, specialists nine months, officers do 11 months.
They have a reserve commitment up until the age of about 50, 60 for officers, where they are required to go back and do a number of training days every year so they are ready and able to expand those forces, he said.
British soldiers taking part in a NATO allied troops training exercise in North Macedonia. File pic: Reuters
‘Spend now to deter threats’
Major General Charlie Herbert, a military analyst who has served as a senior NATO adviser, said Sir Patrick was trying to “provoke a debate”, nationally and within government, about the size of the army and the defence budget.
But also highlighting some of the threats the UK faces now, particularly the emerging threats from Russia.
“We are seeing the possibility of major conflict in Europe once again,” he told Sky News.
He said the size of the British Army has halved in the last 30 years – and suggested Sir Patrick was warning it may need to expand quickly in an emergency.
“I think what Sir Patrick and others are saying is, ‘Spend now, invest properly in a capable military in order to deter those threats, so that we don’t face them in five or 10 years’ time’.”
He added: “If we fail to invest now we may well pay the consequences.”
‘What’s coming over the horizon should shock us’
“There’s a 1939 feel to the world right now,” senior Tory MP Tobias Ellwood told Sky News on Wednesday, warning conscription was a possibility.
He said the UK has been “too complacent” and needed to heed Sir Patrick’s warning.
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‘There’s a 1939 feel to the world right now’
“What’s coming over the horizon should shock us. It should worry us. We are not prepared,” he said.
Last 30 years have gone well – It’s going to get difficult
“We’ve had a couple of decades, three decades or so since the Cold War, life has gone well. It’s now going to get more difficult as authoritarian states exploit our timidity, our reluctance to really put fires out.”
He added: “Patrick Saunders is saying prepare for what’s coming over the horizon.
“There is a 1939 feel to the world right now. These authoritarian states are rearming, there’s a risk averseness about the West in wanting to deal with that, and global institutions such as the United Nations aren’t able to hold these errant nations to account.
“In fact, the UN is reaching its League of Nations moment unless it’s reformed.
“So that’s where the world is heading. We need to wake up to that. There is a mindset now of this era of insecurity that we are heading towards, but we are still on a peacetime defence budget of just 2%. That does need to change.”
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps in a speech last week said the world is “moving from a post-war to pre-war world” and the UK must ensure its “entire defence ecosystem is ready” to defend its homeland.
Downing Street has ruled out any move towards a conscription model, saying that army service would remain voluntary.
Bangladesh’s ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina has been sentenced to death.
It comes after the 78-year-old was found guilty of ordering lethal force in a crackdown on a student-led uprising that ended her 15-year rule.
The former leader, who is now exiled in India, was tried in absentia by the Dhaka-based International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) after the United Nations said up to 1,400 people may have been killed in last year’s violence.
Bangladesh‘s health adviser in the interim government said more than 800 people were killed and about 14,000 were injured.
Following a months-long trial, Hasina got a life sentence under charges for crimes against humanity and the death sentence for the killing of several people during the uprising.
In a statement released after the verdict, Hasina said the ruling was “biased and politically motivated” and “neither I nor other political leaders ordered the killing of protesters”.
“I am not afraid to face my accusers in a proper tribunal where evidence can be weighed and tested fairly,” she added.
“I wholly deny the accusations that have been made against me in the ICT. I mourn all of the deaths that occurred in July and August of last year, on both sides of the political divide. But neither I nor other political leaders ordered the killing of protesters.”
The students initially started protesting over the way government jobs were being allocated, but clashes with police and pro-government activists quickly escalated into violence.
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August 2024: Protesters celebrate Sheikh Hasina’s resignation
The court revealed conversations of Hasina directing security officers to drop bombs from helicopters on the protesters.
She also permitted the use of lethal weapons, including shotguns at close range for maximum harm, the court was told.
Hasina, who previously called the tribunal a “kangaroo court”, fled to India in August 2024 at the height of the uprising.
She is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who led the country to independence.
Hasina is also the aunt of former UK government minister, Tulip Saddiq, who resigned from her Treasury job at the start of this year.
Ms Siddiq had faced calls to step down over links to her aunt and was also said to be facing a corruption trial in Bangladesh.
She told Sky News in August the accusations were “nothing more than a farce” and said she had never been contacted by the Bangladeshi authorities.
The ICT, Bangladesh’s domestic war crimes court located in the capital, delivered its four-hour verdict on Monday amid tight security.
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What was behind the protests?
The packed courtroom cheered and clapped when the sentence was read out.
The tribunal also sentenced former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan – also exiled in India – to death.
A third suspect, a former police chief, was sentenced to five years in prison as he became a state witness against Hasina and pleaded guilty.
The ruling is the most dramatic legal action against a former Bangladeshi leader since independence in 1971 and comes ahead of parliamentary elections expected to be held in February.
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July 2024: Bangladesh protest has ‘become a war’
Foreign ministry officials in Bangladesh have called on India to hand over the former prime minister, adding it was obligated to do so under an existing treaty between the two nations.
India’s foreign ministry said it had noted the verdict concerning Hasina and “remained committed” to the people of Bangladesh.
“We will always engage constructively with all stakeholders to that end,” the ministry added in a statement.
During the verdict, protesters had gathered outside the former home-turned-museum of Hasina’s late father demanding the building be demolished.
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Protesters gather outside the former home of Sheikh Hasina’s late father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Pic: AP
Police used batons and stun grenades to disperse the crowd.
Paramilitary border guards and police have been deployed in Dhaka and many other parts of the country, while the interim government warned any attempt to create disorder will be “strictly” dealt with.
Hasina’s Awami League party called for a nationwide shutdown in protest at the verdict.
The mood in the country had been described as tense ahead of Monday’s ruling.
The protests escalated during the summer of 2024. Pic: AP
Pic: AP
At least 30 crude bomb explosions and 26 vehicles were set on fire across Bangladesh during the past few days.
Local media said two people were killed in the arson attacks, according to the Associated Press.
Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s ousted prime minister, has been sentenced to death after being convicted of crimes against humanity.
It follows a months-long trial in the country that found her guilty of ordering a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising last year.
The former leader, exiled in India, was tried in absentia after the United Nations said up to 1,400 people may have been killed in the violence.
Bangladesh’s health adviser under the interim government said more than 800 people were killed and about 14,000 were injured.
The students initially started protesting over the way government jobs were being allocated, but clashes with police and pro-government activists quickly escalated into violence.
The court revealed conversations of Hasina directing security officers to drop bombs from helicopters on the protesters.
She also permitted the use of lethal weapons, including shotguns at close range for maximum harm, the court was told.
Hasina, who previously called the tribunal a “kangaroo court”, fled to India in August 2024 at the height of the uprising, ending 15 years of rule.
In a statement released after the verdict, Hasina said the ruling was “biased and politically motivated” and “neither I nor other political leaders ordered the killing of protesters”.
“I am not afraid to face my accusers in a proper tribunal where evidence can be weighed and tested fairly,” she added.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
August 2024: Protesters celebrate Sheikh Hasina’s resignation
The 78-year-old is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who led the country to independence.
The International Crimes Tribunal, Bangladesh’s domestic war crimes court located in the capital Dhaka, delivered its four-hour verdict amid tight security.
Hasina received a life sentence under charges for crimes against humanity and the death sentence for the killing of several people during the uprising.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
What was behind the protests?
The packed courtroom cheered and clapped when the sentence was read out.
The tribunal also sentenced former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan – also exiled in India – to death.
A third suspect, a former police chief, was sentenced to five years in prison as he became a state witness against Hasina and pleaded guilty.
The ruling is the most dramatic legal action against a former Bangladeshi leader since independence in 1971 and comes ahead of parliamentary elections expected to be held in February.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
July 2024: Bangladesh protest has ‘become a war’
Foreign ministry officials in Bangladesh have called on India to hand over the former prime minister, adding it was obligated to do so under an existing treaty between the two nations. India has not yet made any response.
Paramilitary border guards and police have been deployed in Dhaka and many other parts of the country, while the interim government warned any attempt to create disorder will be “strictly” dealt with.
It comes after Hasina’s Awami League party called for a nationwide shutdown as part of a protest against the verdict.
The mood in the country had been described as tense ahead of Monday’s ruling.
The protests escalated during the summer of 2024. Pic: AP
Pic: AP
At least 30 crude bomb explosions and 26 vehicles were set on fire across Bangladesh during the past few days.
Local media said two people were killed in the arson attacks, according to the Associated Press.
Hasina is also the aunt of former UK government minister, Tulip Saddiq, who resigned from her Treasury job at the start of this year.
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Ms Siddiq had faced calls to step down over links to her aunt and was also said to be facing a corruption trial in Bangladesh.
She told Sky News in August the accusations were “nothing more than a farce” and said she had never been contacted by the Bangladeshi authorities.
Sky News has seen multiple warehouses in the Jordanian capital Amman, packed full of critical aid earmarked for the Gaza Strip.
There are three other similar locations in the country and run by the Jordanian authorities holding aid intended for Gaza.
There are also large amounts of aid being stored separately by the United Nations in Jordan.
Both the Jordanian authorities and the UN say the majority of aid collected has been sitting in Jordan since March, with only a negligible amount of aid being allowed into Gaza because of Israeli restrictions on aid going into the Strip.
The news comes as tens of thousands of families living in tents in Gaza have been affected by flooding following heavy rains across the region.
The stored aid is equivalent to thousands of trucks’ worth of aid – in Jordan alone.
And the United Nations says there’s even more aid being held back in Egypt too – in total, enough aid to provide food for the entire Gaza population for about three months, according to the deputy commissioner general for UNRWA, Natalie Boucly, who was interviewed by The Guardian.
Sky’s special correspondent Alex Crawford, who is in Amman, said: “The aid in Jordan alone includes critical supplies such as tents and tarpaulins as well as blankets, mattresses, medicines like paracetamol as well as baby formula… all being stored here and held back, according to the UN here in Jordan and the Jordanian authorities, all being refused entry by the Israelis.”
What has UNICEF said?
The UN aid agency for children has called on Israel to allow all of its supplies into Gaza.
Writing on X, UNICEF said it had already distributed more than 5,000 tents, 220,000 tarps and 29,000 winter clothes kits.
The Israeli defence body in charge of humanitarian aid in Gaza, COGAT, has said it is allowing in winter materials including blankets and tarps, which are water-resistant sheets made of canvas or plastic used for protection from the elements.
But aid organisations have warned the efforts are completely inadequate and vastly outnumbered by those in need – an estimated 1.4 million people are classified as vulnerable by aid agencies.
In contrast, on X, COGAT said it had “facilitated close to 140,000 tarpaulins directly to the residents of the Gaza Strip” and had spent the past few months coordinating with the international community.
It went on: “We call on international organisations to coordinate more tents and tarpaulins and other winter humanitarian responses.”
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But the UN insists Israel is in breach of international humanitarian law and has the responsibility as the occupying force to ensure the safe distribution and coordination of life-saving aid.
What does the Israeli military say?
An Israeli military official told Sky News that aid was stopped from Jordan after the main border crossing with Israel was closed following an attack there in September, which saw a Jordanian truck driver kill two Israeli soldiers.
Although both Jordanian officials and UN figures in the country say hardly any aid – a “negligible” amount – was allowed into Gaza from Jordan many months before this, dating back to March.
The Israeli military official said the crossing will not be opened until an investigation is concluded into the incident. They pointed out that there are other routes for aid to enter Gaza along the Egypt border, and hundreds of trucks enter the strip every day under the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement.
However, the UN and multiple aid organisations say this is a fraction of what is required to meet the huge need inside Gaza and there are thousands of trucks’ worth of aid also piled up and waiting to be allowed over from Egypt too.
Meanwhile, in the sprawling Muwasi tent camp in Gaza, winter’s first strong rainfall sent water cascading through the flimsy tents, which are now homes to tens of thousands of displaced families.
Residents tried to dig trenches to keep the water from flooding their tents, as intermittent rains that began on Friday poured through tears in tarpaulins and makeshift shelters.
A Palestinian child walks through the rain in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood of Gaza City. Pic: AP
‘Water puddles are inches high’
Assil Naggar said he “spent all (Friday) pushing water out of my tent”, adding his neighbours’ tents and belongings were wrecked.
“Water puddles are inches high, and there is no proper drainage,” he continued.
Tents used by displaced Palestinians, on a rainy day in the central Gaza Strip. Pic: Reuters
The UN said Muwasi was sheltering up to 425,000 displaced Palestinians earlier this year, the vast majority in makeshift temporary tents, after Israel’s war with Hamas displaced most of Gaza’s population of more than two million people.
The bulk of Gaza’s infrastructure is estimated to have been destroyed or badly damaged during the Israeli bombardment.
What’s the latest with the ceasefire?
The first stage of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which took effect on 10 October, is now nearing its end with Israeli forces pulling back to a ‘yellow line’ and Hamas releasing all living Israeli captives who were held in Gaza.
Hamas has yet to return the remains of three more hostages, which Israel is demanding before progressing to the second stage, which includes an international stabilisation force to oversee security in Gaza.
On Monday, the UN Security Council is expected to vote on a US proposal for a UN mandate for such a force despite opposition from Russia, China and some Arab countries.
The Israeli bombardment of Gaza has gone on for more than two years, killing nearly 70,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Palestinian territory’s ministry of health, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
The Israeli military campaign came in response to attacks inside southern Israel by Hamas militants on October 7 2023, which saw 1,200 people killed and 251 taken hostage.
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