When the Prime Minister pulled on his combat fatigues and announced that he would send a peacekeeping force to Ukraine, my immediate reaction was: You and whose Army, mate?
Surkeir promised to put ‘boots on the ground’ and ‘jets in the sky’ over Kyiv in the event of Donald Trump succeeding in bringing an end to the war.
Yet with the military reduced to its lowest level since the Napoleonic Wars, where are those troops going to come from, without seriously undermining Britain’s own defences?
The generals say we would struggle to rustle up more than a single brigade of 5,000 to deploy in Ukraine, which would hardly have Putin quaking in his Gucci loafers.
As for jets in the sky, we could equally ask: ‘You and whose Air Force, mate?’
Yesterday, the Mail revealed that the RAF is facing a chronic shortage of fighter pilots because of a disastrous, wrong-headed recruitment campaign which rejected white male applicants as part of a deranged diversity drive.
Needless to say, it backfired spectacularly and the RAF is now saddled with a shortfall of 30 per cent in the number of pilots at flight lieutenant and squadron leader level. They are now desperately trying to encourage older candidates, including ex-airmen, to join up.
All this comes on top of a shortage of planes, which could see 24 older Typhoon fighter jets, written off two years ago, pressed back into service.
Keir Starmer speaks to soldiers at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. The RAF is facing a chronic shortage of fighter pilots because of a disastrous, wrong-headed recruitment campaign which rejected white male applicants
Governments of all stripes – Tory, Labour, Coalition – have conspired in the shameful neglect of our armed forces over decades. All are guilty of dereliction of duty when it comes to defence of the realm.
They chose instead to fritter away billions on welfare, paying perfectly fit people with pretend illnesses to sit at home all day, and creating millions of cushy non-jobs in the public sector.
Meanwhile, the military was starved of both personnel and kit. Since the end of the Cold War, the number of active servicemen and women has fallen by 200,000.
The size of the Army has been halved, and the generals admit it would be wiped out in six months in the event of a full-on war. The RAF has the smallest combat fleet in history. Talk about The Few.
The Royal Navy has been reduced to just two aircraft carriers, which seem to spend half their time being repaired. Even when they’re fully functional, they can’t set sail because of a lack of frigates to protect them in war zones. It’s an oft repeated fact that the Navy has more admirals than ships.
All three services have been shackled by procurement scandals at the Ministry of Defence, which have produced hideous overspends and hopelessly inadequate equipment.
The Army was promised a new £5.5 billion fleet of Ajax armoured vehicles from 2018. They still haven’t been delivered. We learned recently that Britain’s ageing rifles are ‘the laughing stock of Europe’.
At this rate, our peacekeepers in Ukraine – if they ever get there, which is unlikely – will be armed with knives on the ends of broomsticks, like the Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard.
Bang, two, three!
As for boots on the ground, during the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars our soldiers were forced to buy their own boots, because those they were issued with were unfit for purpose.
Say what you like about Donald Trump’s attitude towards his Nato partners but he has certainly delivered a long overdue reality check.
Suddenly, it’s Labour sabre-rattling and talking about beefing up our defence capabilities. At this rate, it won’t be long before Ginge Rayner and a bunch of Left-wing madwomen set up camp on Greenham Common, demanding the reopening of the airbase.
What do we want?
American missiles!
When do we want them?
Now!
But even if Starmer increases defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP, it won’t scratch the surface. Realistically, the defence budget needs to double to Cold War levels.
It’s not just about the money, though. What’s required is a complete change in attitude across the board. For too long the armed forces have been treated almost as pariahs, sacrificed on the altar of diversity and inclusion.
During the Iraq War, airmen from RAF Wittering – the historic home of Hedgehoppers Anonymous – were ordered not to go into nearby Peterborough in uniform because it might stoke tensions with the Muslim community.
The latest RAF recruitment fiasco, discriminating unlawfully against white men, demonstrates just how deep the woke mind virus has burrowed into the heads of the armed services, along with the rest of the public – and, sadly, much of the private – sector.
Even with World War Three looming, British banks and pension funds are refusing to invest in ‘unethical’ defence projects. So where’s the money coming from to manufacture the munitions and military hardware we need?
Politicians appear to have looked on the forces as a branch of social services. Recruitment has failed to hit targets for the past 15 years.
One of the most absurd Army advertising campaigns aimed at young recruits told them it was ‘OK to cry’ and display emotions. That hardly sits comfortably with a fighting force which exists to break things and kill the enemy.
Another diversity campaign featured a Muslim soldier unrolling a prayer mat on the battlefield.
A couple of years ago, male squaddies were ordered to stop referring to each other as ‘lads’ because it might deter female recruits. And the famous officer training college at Sandhurst spent £1.3 million installing gender-neutral toilets.
Don’t panic!
Yes, it’s admirable that the Army, RAF and Navy are seeking to recruit men and women from different backgrounds. But it doesn’t appear to have worked.
Fewer than 10 per cent of young people now say they would fight for their country. That’s hardly surprising when, for years, they have it drilled into their heads that we are the worst, most racist, colonialist nation on Earth and should be ashamed of our history.
So where does Starmer think his New Model Army is going to come from? Is Labour going to drastically change the school curriculum, or halt the practice of everyone from museums to the National Trust portraying our country’s history in a negative light? Don’t hold you breath.
Nor is Surkeir going to stop his Left-wing mates in the yuman rites industry pursuing soldiers through the courts for actions taken in the heat of battle.
Can anyone guarantee that if a soldier sent to Ukraine as a peacekeeper fired a shot in anger, he or she wouldn’t subsequently find themselves charged with a war crime?
Try asking those who served in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan, who are still being investigated, persecuted and facing prison sentences for simply doing their job.
Let’s hope, too, that politicians stop taking our brave men and women still serving for granted. They like to bathe in the reflected glory, posing in tanks and battledress for the cameras, yet treat our military personnel shabbily on the home front.
While billions are spent billeting asylum seekers and illegal immigrants in four-star hotels, married quarters everywhere are crumbling and being sold off to developers.
Labour is also slapping VAT on the private school fees of children whose parents are serving their country overseas.
Against this background, it’s no surprise that the armed forces are having trouble attracting new recruits.
In the US, they revere their armed forces and give service personnel preferential treatment everywhere.
Our servicemen and women, from whatever background, deserve better. Until all that happens, it won’t matter how much the defence budget rises, recruitment will remain sluggish.
And every time Surkeir commits British troops to intervene in foreign wars, the question will always be:
You and whose Army, mate?
