George Barnes is a member of Conservative Friends of the Armed Forces and has just completed a course in War Studies and Command.
Back in January, Patrick Sanders, the professional head of the British army, made it clear that in his opinion, our forces were in no fit state to fight a conventional high-intensity conflict. If a large-scale war broke out, too few soldiers, legacy equipment, and not enough munitions would consign the UK, for the first time since the eighteenth century, to an inconsequential role in determining the future of Europe. We would be hapless bystanders, watching on as the US, Poland, and other NATO allies slogged it out against Russia.
Sanders proffered a potential solution to help lessen the likelihood of this unpalatable scenario unfolding: the development of a ‘Citizen Army’. Training UK citizens in basic military skills would mean that if war came, a larger and more capable military base could be mobilised more quickly, thereby de-risking the prospect of being overwhelmed and defeated in the first stages of a conflict. Crucially, it would also send a strong deterrence message to our adversaries, lessening the chance of war erupting in the first place.
It is important to note that developing a ‘Citizen Army’ is not the same as conscription. There are many ways to provide a greater proportion of the population with military training without having to frog-march unwilling volunteers down to the local recruiting office. Introducing mandatory military service, although likely to be popular amongst Conservative voters, is unlikely to wash with a younger generation that seem increasingly sceptical of the role of the nation-state, let alone the potential requirement to defend it.
If you need a clear illustration as to why a ‘Citizen Army’ concept seems like a no-brainer, look to our military history. In both World Wars, the regular component of the British Army was effectively destroyed at the outset. The nation was forced to turn to its everyday citizens to stem the tide and achieve the decisive breakthroughs in Flanders and Normandy respectively. And these were times when the regular British Army numbered approximately 200,000-250,000 – several times the size of our current Army today, which at 74,000 (and dropping) allows it to fit comfortably into Old Trafford. If faced with the casualty rates currently seen in Eastern Ukraine, we would be out of trained professional soldiers within weeks.
Depressingly and predictably, this ‘Citizen Army’ idea was given short thrift by Number 10. Even though the Defence Secretary has stated Europe is in a ‘pre-war’ era, and the Defence Select Committee has gone blue-in-the-face highlighting Britain’s unpreparedness for large-scale conflict, our senior decision-makers in Government have decided to bury their heads in the sand. Unfortunately for us, significantly reducing the chance of the UK getting comprehensively defeated in a conflict is not one of Rishi Sunak’s five priorities.
Developing a ‘Citizen Army’ does not need to involve sensationalist headlines over the re-introduction of National Service, or inevitable hand-wringing over whether such a concept conflicts with the UK’s liberal ideals. Expanding our Reservist programme for example, whilst introducing a series of incentives and disincentives to encourage citizens to join, is just one way to improve the UK’s preparedness for war without needing to send out press gangs onto the streets of Portsmouth.
Apart from patriotism and a sense of bonhomie, businesses have few incentives to let their employers join. After all, who wants to lose their employees for an extra two weeks a year whilst they go off and train? Or from the Reservist’s perspective, who wants to use up two weeks of their holiday a year to get cold, wet, and tired? There should be a series of financial incentives for businesses to have as many people as possible in the Reserves, and greater protections in place to ensure a Reservist should not have to risk career progression by joining up.
Combined Cadet Forces offer another path towards training more citizens in basic military skills, with the added benefit of encouraging a greater number to join the Reserves or Regulars once older. Although there are now more CCF contingents in State schools than Private ones, there are still only 500 that are active. Based on 2022 figures, that equates roughly to one CCF contingent for every 6,000 13-17 year olds (and that’s before we account for many CCFs servicing Private schools only).
Expanding this organisation, which instills key values like self-discipline, teamwork, and selflessness, would develop young people whilst simultaneously exposing a greater proportion of the population to military service and skills.
As ever, the issue is funding. Without more money, we cannot meaningfully and effectively prepare for conflict. Until the Government decides to take the UK’s national security seriously by raising Defence spending to at least 2.5 per cent of GDP, we must remain in the realm of the theoretical when debating how additional funding could be spent.
Hopefully, the Government will wake up and realise what is at stake before it is too late. Once they do, and our Armed Forces are given the funding it requires, we can start investing in a series of measures to ensure Britain is well prepared for the possibility of a high-intensity conflict. There will be much work to do – and developing a capable and trained ‘Citizen Army’ must be a key element of any such programme. As Sanders aptly summarised, “regular armies start wars; citizen armies win them”.
The post George Barnes: The Chief of the General Staff was right. The UK must consider developing a ‘Citizen Army’ appeared first on Conservative Home.
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Author: George Barnes
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