James Heappey says UK should consider sending troops to Ukraine – but away from the frontline
The UK should consider sending troops to Ukraine to give training and other support to Ukrainian forces in their war with Russia – though away from the frontline, former armed forces minister James Heappey has said.
Mr Heappey also told Sky News that Britain needs to be better prepared for war at a time of growing threats, including by reinvigorating a large “strategic reserve” force of thousands of veterans who could be required to serve again in a national crisis.
In a wide-ranging interview, the outgoing MP for Wells in Somerset repeated a call for an immediate increase in defence spending to close gaps in capability – such as being able to defend UK airspace from missiles – and eventually to regrow the size of the military.
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“There’s really two things that I have set myself to achieve in my remaining time as an MP, given the knowledge that I have as a long-serving minister in the MoD [Ministry of Defence],” Mr Heappey, 43, said in an interview at his home.
“Firstly, to make the case for more defence spending: 2.5% [of national income, up from just over 2%] now. Three per cent by 2030.
“And secondly, that we reinvest and refocus in our strategic resilience as a nation and our capacity to war fight and withstand any other type of crisis that might come our way.”
The comments came after Sky News revealed last week that the government has no national plan for the defence of the UK or the mobilisation of its people and industry in a war.
In a series called Prepared For War? Sky News explores how prepared the UK is for the possibility of armed conflict
Officials have started to develop a cross-government “national defence plan”, but any shift back to a Cold War-style, ready-for-war footing would require political leaders to make defence a genuinely national effort once again.
Mr Heappey, who stepped down as armed forces minister last month after four and a half years in the job, underlined the critical importance to British and wider European security of supporting Ukraine in its war against Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
He urged the UK and its allies to go even further with the types of weapons they are willing to give Kyiv as the Ukrainian military struggles to withstand renewed Russian attacks.
“I think we’ve got to shake the tree again right now for what more we could give from our current inventories – What is the next capability threshold that we could go to beyond Storm Shadow [cruise missiles]?”
The MP, who will quit politics at the next election, would not be drawn on what munitions he was suggesting but he did voice support for comments made by France’s President Emmanuel Macron about the potential need to deploy western forces to Ukraine.
British Army troops teach members of the Ukrainian armed forces how to operate weaponry in 2022. Pic: PA
“Some of the things that Macron has suggested recently, I think are things that really do deserve consideration,” the former minister said.
Asked if he meant the idea of boots on the ground, he said: “I think you’ve got to be careful about how you do it. I think definitely nowhere near a combat zone. I think you’ve got to be very, very careful not to make it into a Russo-NATO war.
“But I do think it is worth exploring what in the sort of deeper – in the depth of Ukraine – the donor community could do.”
As for whether this meant things like deploying British troops on a training mission inside Ukraine, Mr Heappey said: “Well, I think it’s worth considering.”
Reviving the strategic reserve
Closer to home, Mr Heappey said he would like to see a modern-day version of a Cold War system of preparing the whole of the nation – military, industry and the public – for the possibility of armed conflict.
This included reviving the strategic reserve – which comprises everyone who leaves the army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force for a set period of time.
James Heappey said care will need to be taken not to turn the current conflict into a Russo-NATO war. Pic: PA
“Rewind 30 years, when you left the military, you were left with a set of uniform, there was a requirement to go for training exercises once a year, just a weekend, just to check you could still shoot straight and that you could still run,” he said.
The obligation to serve as a second layer of military force to support the regular military in a war of national survival still exists – including for Mr Heappey as a former army officer.
“So I’d better get on with some press-ups and some running,” he said with a smile.
Renewing contact with this group of veterans is something defence chiefs are exploring.
“I think that they are looking at how they’ll do that,” the MP said.
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“Contacting them is one thing… but it’s what you do with them… are we going to start to say to them that there is some sort of liability whilst they’re on the strategic reserve?
“These are discussions that are under way, nowhere near to a policy announcement, but they are under way.”
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He said he thought it would be a good idea to re-establish such a link and some kind of annual training, though he recognised this would require a lot of equipment, such as rifles and uniforms, as well as serving soldiers, sailors and aviators to run the exercise.
As for the message this would send to the UK’s enemies, he said: “I think it would be quite powerful… all of a sudden, our adversaries are looking at a force that is the regular force… and then 200,000-250,000 more beyond who have a skill at arms, who have a familiarity with military tactics, and could in extremis be mobilised, and that changes their thinking again.”
Asked about the strategic reserve, a MOD spokesperson said: “Our armed forces reserves are an essential and extremely valued part of defence and the contribution that they make to resilience and our ability to call on additional personnel when required are vital. We regularly update our records to ensure that we can call on ex-regular personnel should they be required to serve and have modernised our processes.”
Three men have been jailed for a combined total of 99 years for plotting to murder a member of a gang that carried out Britain’s biggest-ever cash robbery.
Paul Allen, 46, was shot twice as he stood in his kitchen in Woodford, east London, on 11 July 2019.
He was a member of the Securitas heist gang that stole £54m from a cash depot in Tonbridge, Kent, in 2006.
The former cage fighter was living in a large detached rented house with his partner and three young children after being released from an 18-year prison sentence over the raid.
The attack at his home has left him paralysed from the chest down.
Louis Ahearne, 36, Stewart Ahearne, 46, and Daniel Kelly, 46, denied conspiring to murder Allen but were found guilty last month following a trial at the Old Bailey.
The trio were sentenced at the Old Bailey in central London on Friday.
Kelly was sentenced to 36 years in prison and an extra five years on licence, Louis Ahearne was jailed for 33 years, and his sibling Stewart Ahearne – 30 years.
Damage to the kitchen door. Pic: Met Police/PA
A bullet casing found in the back garden. Pic: Met Police
Prosecutors did not give a motive for the murder plot, though they described the victim as a “sophisticated” career criminal.
Detectives said the shooting could seem like “the plot [of] a Hollywood blockbuster” but added it was actually “horrific criminality” from “hardened organised criminals”.
In her sentencing remarks, the judge said she believed the trio “were motivated by a promise of financial gain”.
Judge Sarah Whitehouse KC said: “I have no doubt that this agreement to murder Paul Allen involved other people apart from the three of you and that you three were motivated by a promise of financial gain.
“The culpability of each one of you is very high.
“The harm caused to the victim was very serious – indeed, short of killing him it could hardly be more serious. He is currently paralysed and relies on others for every single need.”
The shooting was just the latest act in a long list of criminal deeds. The day before, Kelly and Louise Ahearne used a rented car to carry out a burglary in Kent, accessing the gated community by pretending to be police officers.
A month before that, the trio had stolen more than $3.5m (£2.78m) worth of Ming dynasty antiques from the Museum of Far Eastern Arts in Geneva, for which the Ahearne brothers had been jailed in Switzerland.
Kelly is also wanted in Japan over the robbery of a Tokyo jewellery store in 2015 in which a security guard was punched in the face.
A man has been jailed for life for the murder of university lecturer Claire Chick.
Paul Butler was sentenced to a minimum term of 27 years for killing his estranged wife after a six-month campaign of stalking and harassment when he refused to accept their relationship was over.
Ms Chick, 48, was found seriously injured on West Hoe Road in Plymouth just before 9pm on 22 January. She was taken to hospital, but died the next day.
Previously known as Claire Butler, Ms Chick worked at the University of Plymouth.
Paul Butler has been jailed for murder. Pic: Devon & Cornwall Police
She died after a frenzied attack outside her home – the attack a culmination of months of harassment, stalking and violence at the hands of Butler.
Following her death, Devon and Cornwall Police made a referral to the police watchdog due to previous contact prior to her death.
Jo Martin KC, prosecuting, said Ms Chick had made six statements to the police about Butler and he had been arrested three times.
In her final statement to police the day before he killed her outside her own home, she said: “I only feel that Butler will kill me if further action is not taken. I am in fear of leaving my house.”
Butler was arrested around 20 miles away in the Liskeard area on 24 January.
He was sentenced on Friday at Plymouth Crown Court, having previously pleaded guilty to murder, and to one charge of possession of a bladed article.
‘I loved Claire’
The family of Ms Chick told the court how her murder left a “huge void” in their lives.
Her eldest daughter, Bethany Hancock-Baxter, described Butler as “evil”.
She said: “I want this evil man to listen to me. I want you to know what you have done to us as a family.
“Despite all the hate I have for you, I cannot bring myself to do what you did to my mum – that’s because I am not evil like you.”
Her sister, Lydia Peers, said Butler was a “parasite”.
After her short-lived marriage to Butler, Ms Chick began a relationship with another man, Paul Maxwell.
Mr Maxwell spoke from the witness box and repeatedly stared at the defendant as he spoke. Butler stared back at him.
“I loved Claire. She was beautiful, funny and kind,” Mr Maxwell said.
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Vincent Nichols: British cardinal who will be in the conclave says picking the next pope is ‘intimidating’
The head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales has told Sky News it’s “intimidating” to be one of those responsible for choosing the next pope.
Vincent Nichols is among four UK cardinals in Rome for the Pope’s funeral on Saturday.
Following the funeral, and after nine days of mourning, cardinals from around the world will gather in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel to cast their votes, with white smoke announcing to the world when a new pope has been elected.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols speaks to Sky’s Anna Botting
Cardinal Nichols told Sky’s Anna Botting: “I hope nobody goes into this conclave, as it were, with the sole purpose of wanting to win. I think it’s very important that we go in wanting to listen to each other… It has to be together, trying to sense what God wants next. Not just for the church.”
He described the procession that took Pope Francis to lie in state as “the most moving thing I’ve ever attended here”.
Describing the Pope as a “master of the gesture and the phrase”, he also recalled the pontiff’s last journey away from the Vatican.
Cardinal Nichols said Pope Francis had visited the Regina Coeli prison, telling the inmates: “You know, except for the grace of God, it could well have been me … Don’t lose hope, God has you written in his heart.”
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‘Pope touched the hearts of millions’
The Pope later told his doctor his last regret was not being able to wash the feet of the prisoners during that visit.
Becoming emotional, he also said the final message he would like to have given Pope Francis is “thank you”.
The 88-year-old died peacefully on Easter Monday, the Vatican confirmed.
Heads of state – including Sir Keir Starmer, Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Emmanuel Macron – have all confirmed their attendance at his funeral, which takes place on Saturday at St Peter’s Square.
Prince William will attend on behalf of the King, Kensington Palace has said.
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Where will Pope Francis be buried?
Talking about the seating plan at the funeral, Cardinal Nichols said he understood it to be “royalty first, then heads of state, then political leaders”.
Worldwide geopolitical tensions mean that many eyes will be on interactions between heads of state at the event, with particular focus on Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy following their tense meeting at the Oval Office in February.
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Pope’s cause of death confirmed .
Looking back at the last papal funeral, Cardinal Nichols described the seating of the then Prince Charles one seat away from Zimbabwean present Robert Mugabe as “obviously a little bit tense”.
Cardinal Nichols explained event would be “exactly the same Catholic rite as everyone else – just on a grander scale”.
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3D map shows pope’s funeral route
In a break from tradition, Pope Francis will be the first pope in a century to be interred outside the Vatican – and will instead be laid to rest at his favourite church, Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica in Rome’s Esquilino neighbourhood.
He will also be buried in just one simple wooden coffin, instead of the traditional three coffins which are usually used for pontiffs.
Born in Crosby near Liverpool, Cardinal Vincent Nichols hoped to be a lorry driver as a child – but as a teenager reportedly felt the calling to join the priesthood while watching Liverpool FC.
As cardinal, he is known for leading the church’s work tackling human trafficking and modern slavery, for which he received the UN Path to Peace Award.
He was criticised by the UK’s Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, which said he “demonstrated a lack of understanding” of the impact of abuse and “seemingly put the reputation of the church first”.
Cardinal Nichols, responding to the findings, previously told Sky News he was “ashamed at what has happened in the context of the Catholic Church” and promised to improve the church’s response.
He has appeared to rule himself out of the running for pope, telling reporters he was “too old, not capable”.
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