Time to ‘think the unthinkable’ and consider UK conscription, says Britain’s former top NATO commander

Published

2 years ago

January 26, 2024

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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.”

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.”

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.

‘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.

“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.

World

Pope Leo urges Donald Trump not to try to oust Venezuelan president by force

Published

27 mins ago

December 2, 2025

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Pope Leo urges Donald Trump not to try to oust Venezuelan president by force

The Pope has urged Donald Trump not to try to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro using military force.

Leo, the first American pontiff, said it would be better to attempt dialogue or impose economic pressure on Venezuela if Washington wants to pursue change there.

The Trump administration has been weighing options to combat what it has portrayed as Mr Maduro’s role in supplying illegal drugs that have killed Americans.

The socialist Venezuelan president has denied having any links to the illegal drug trade.

Asked during a news conference about President Trump’s threats to remove Mr Maduro by force, the Pope said: “It is better to search for ways of dialogue, or perhaps pressure, including economic pressure.”

He added that Washington should search for other ways to achieve change “if that is what they want to do in the United States”.

The Pope was speaking as he flew home from a visit to Turkey and Lebanon – his first overseas trip in the role.

Mr Maduro has said Venezuelans are ready to defend their country as the US considers a land attack.

The president held a rally in Caracas amid heightened tensions with Mr Trump’s administration, which has been targeting what it says are boats carrying drug smugglers.

Mr Trump met his national security team on Monday evening, having warned last week that land strikes would start “very soon”.

It’s not been confirmed what was discussed at the meeting, but White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters: “There’s many options at the president’s disposal that are on the table – and I’ll let him speak on those.”

US forces have carried out at least 21 strikes on boats it claims were carrying narcotics to its shores over the last few months.

Mr Maduro – widely considered a dictator by the West – said on Monday that Venezuelans are ready “to defend [the country] and lead it to the path of peace”.

“We have lived through 22 weeks of aggression that can only be described as psychological terrorism,” he said.

Venezuela has said the boat attacks, which have killed more than 80 people, amount to murder – and that Mr Trump’s true motivation is to oust Mr Maduro and access its oil.

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World

Maduro says Venezuela ready to defend itself as US considers potential land attack

Published

27 mins ago

December 2, 2025

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Maduro says Venezuela ready to defend itself as US considers potential land attack

Nicolas Maduro has said Venezuelans are ready to defend their country as the US considers a land attack.

The president held a rally in Caracas amid heightened tensions with Donald Trump’s administration, which has been targeting what it says are boats carrying drug smugglers.

Mr Trump met his national security team on Monday evening, having warned last week that land strikes would start “very soon”.

US forces have carried out at least 21 strikes on boats it claims were carrying narcotics to its shores over the last few months, and the White House has accused Mr Maduro of being involved in the drugs trade – a claim he denies.

‘Psychological terrorism’

Mr Maduro – widely considered a dictator by the West – said on Monday that Venezuelans are ready “to defend [the country] and lead it to the path of peace”.

“We have lived through 22 weeks of aggression that can only be described as psychological terrorism,” he said.

Venezuela has said the boat attacks, which have killed more than 80 people, amount to murder – and that Mr Trump’s true motivation is to oust Mr Maduro and access its oil.

Concerns have been raised over the legality of the US attacks, which the Pentagon has sought to justify by designating the gangs as foreign terror organisations.

Controversy over US strikes

Tensions remain high over America’s large deployment in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific, which includes its flagship aircraft carrier and thousands of troops.

The US has released videos of boats being blown up but has not provided evidence – such as photos of drugs – to support the smuggling claims.

Controversy also surrounds the first incident, on 2 September, in which 11 people were killed – with a follow-up strike targeting the boat after the first attack left two survivors in the water.

US media reported defence secretary Pete Hegseth gave an order that everyone on board should be killed.

However, there are concerns about the legality of the second strike if the survivors posed no threat.

Mr Hegseth dismissed the reporting as “fake news” and insisted all actions in the region are compliant with US and international law.

“Every trafficker we kill is affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization,” he said on X.

Mr Trump said on Sunday he would not have wanted a second strike and that Mr Hegseth had denied giving such an order.

Ms Leavitt confirmed on Monday that the boat had been hit by a second strike – but denied Mr Hegseth gave the order for the follow-up.

Instead, she said he had authorised US navy vice admiral Frank Bradley to attack, and the admiral acted “well within his authority and the law, directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the US was eliminated”.

As the US weighs its next steps, Mr Trump said on Sunday he had spoken to Mr Maduro by phone and that the conversation went neither “well or badly”.

In recent days, he also stated that Venezuela’s airspace should be considered closed – with the South American nation calling it a “colonial threat” and “illegal, and unjustified aggression”.

World

Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan healthy but isolated in jail, his sister says

Published

27 mins ago

December 2, 2025

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Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan healthy but isolated in jail, his sister says

Imran Khan is suffering from isolation, his sister said, after weeks of not being able to see his family.

Khan has been in jail since his August 2023 arrest after he was handed a three-year jail term for illegally selling state gifts.

Uzma Khanum was the only family member permitted to meet him in Adiala jail, Rawalpindi, where supporters of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party had gathered to protest against conditions of the 73-year-old’s detention.

Ms Khanum said that Khan, a former cricketer, is facing isolation and psychological strain in prison following weeks in which his family said access had been blocked.

“He’s physically well,” said Ms Khanum, one of Khan’s three sisters. “But he’s kept inside all the time, and only goes out for a short while. There’s no contact with anybody.”

The meeting took place under strict supervision, said Ms Khanum, though she declined to provide further details.

PTI says routine prison visits have been blocked for weeks despite court orders, fuelling rumours about his condition and possible prison transfers.

Authorities deny any mistreatment, and say that Khan is receiving all entitlements available to prisoners.

Khan served as prime minister from 2018 to 2022.

He has claimed that the charges against him are politically motivated – and aimed at blocking his political career.

Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, is serving time in the same prison over corruption, but they are not allowed to see each other except when they appear in court, his supporters have said.