Air defences to protect Britain from attack are to be reviewed, a minister has said, as an ex-army chief issued a chilling World War III warning.
Armed forces minister Luke Pollard laid out how Britain’s armed forces would be modernised under a strategic defence review to report within the next year, to deter aggression both at home and abroad.
“It’s really important in these difficult times we are not only keeping the UK homeland safe, looking at for instance air defence of the UK, but also making sure that we can support our allies, especially looking at say British forces that are already stationed on Nato’s eastern flank, in Estonia,” he told GB News.
“That is why the defence review will be a Nato-first review, securing our own backyard in the Europe and North Atlantic area.”
His comments came after the former head of the British army warned the world faced "as dangerous a moment as any time that we've had since 1945", with a possible attack on Nato territory if alliance members do not substantially re-arm.
General Sir Patrick Sanders stressed that China, Russia and Iran were “more interdependent and more aligned than the original Axis powers were”.
Vladimir Putin has already threatened to attack British sites as he has sought to stop the UK leading the West in increasing military support for Ukraine.
Responding to General Sanders’ warning, Mr Pollard told Sky News: “The assessment is broadly correct in the fact that we are facing difficult times.
“I don’t share precisely the language that the general that you have just cited used.
“But that is why we need to deliver this review at pace,” he added, even though it may take a year.
He stressed it would cover space, cyber, drone warfare, and the increasing use of deep missile strikes into aggressor countries.
He added that Britain’s armed forces had been “hollowed out” and underfunded” over a long period of time, emphasising: “We know that there are capability gaps that we have.”
Some military equipment donated to Ukraine had left gaps in the UK’s stockpile of military equipment, particularly for the army.
He stressed the review would also tackle recruitment and retention problems for the military.
It would seek to ensure that Britain has “fighting forces fighting fit for the 21st Century, able to deter the threats that the UK is facing and our allies are facing”.
But Sir Keir Starmer, in Washington for a Nato summit, has refused to guarantee that he will meet his flagship commitment on defence spending within his first term in office.
The Prime Minister, who will meet US President Joe Biden and other Nato leaders on Wednesday at a summit to mark the alliance’s 75th anniversary, is pressing for European nations to increase defence spending.
But decisions on reaching the UK’s goal of spending 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) will follow a wholesale defence review being launched next week and must comply with the Government’s strict “fiscal rules” on spending and borrowing.
Sir Keir will hold talks with Mr Biden in the White House on Wednesday afternoon as the US President faces domestic pressures over his age and suitability to run for a second term.
The prospect of Donald Trump being returned to the White House in November’s election is a cause for concern in the alliance given his past criticisms of Nato and his threats to reduce aid to Ukraine.
European Nato states face shouldering a greater burden as part of a drive to “Trump proof” the alliance should the Republican candidate return to office and weaken US commitment to the 32-nation bloc.
Speaking to reporters, Sir Keir was repeatedly pressed on whether the goal of spending 2.5 per cent of GDP would be reached within his first term.
He said: “We are committed to the 2.5 per cent, as I have said before the election and I say again after the election. That is obviously subject to our fiscal rules, but the commitment is there.
“The strategic review will take place, that will happen next week, and we will set out the details of that.
“The manifesto commitment was that it would take place within a year, I would like it to be quicker than that if I’m honest and we’ll set out the details about how we are going to do it.”
Before his election defeat, Rishi Sunak had committed to reach 2.5 per cent by 2030 at a total cost of £75 billion over six years.
Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge said holding a review before deciding how to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP is "damaging for the armed forces".
He told Sky News: "We had an amazing opportunity, Keir Starmer at the Washington summit to confirm he was going to go to 2.5 per cent and set a clear timetable, because that's what the chiefs running our armed forces need.
"They've got some difficult decisions to make, but above all we've got this dangerous world where we want to be deterring our adversaries.
"I think this would have been a really powerful signal to send - instead, it's created delay, and I think that can be damaging."
