Army chief warns Britons will have to make ‘sacrifices’ to prepare for war

Britain’s political leaders will soon be having a “frank conversation” with the public about the sacrifices that will be needed in the event of war, the head of the army has declared.

General Sir Roly Walker, the chief of the general staff, has said citizens must understand what the army does for them and “consent to sacrifices to prioritise defence and security”.

He told around 700 soldiers during a visit to Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, that the UK could soon need them to fight, as he warned of the dangers facing Britain today.

In a speech, captured on camera by British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS), he said: “You didn't know this, but our nation is going to need you.

“There was a time that our nation didn't want to think of a time when it would need its soldiers to fight in a war. But as anyone who is studying the trajectory of world affairs and the geopolitical system within which our nation sits and thrives will realise there is extreme jeopardy in the world at the moment, and the business of soldiering is coming back into the nation's psyche.”

He added: “Indeed, very soon, the political leaders of this country will start to have a frank conversation with the citizens of this country about just what is going on, and where the risk lies, and what the nation must need to be prepared to do. They need to understand what is going on in the world of defence and security, and why now appears to be a very dangerous time.

"They are going to try and explain to our citizens that our citizens have got to consent to sacrifices to prioritise defence and security.”

Sir Roly’s comments follow ongoing calls to increase defence spending amid growing threats from Russia against the West and warnings about Britain’s unreadiness for war.

Chancellor John Healey is under pressure to find the money to close a £5bn gap in planned defence spending ahead of his first Budget this month.

The former defence secretary resigned from Sir Keir Starmer’s cabinet in June after accusing him of failing to properly fund the defence investment plan at a “dangerous time”.

He has been urged by the Conservatives to increase defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP by 2030.

Sir Roly said political leaders were “going to ask those citizens, for whom we are not necessarily at the front of their mind, that they too need to play a part in the defence and security of this country.

"They need to understand what we do for them,” he added. “They need to consent to allow us to do that. Which means sacrifices by them and ultimately we are going to need them to back us, to back you to do the one thing that you do that nobody else gets to do and that is to take the fight to the enemy.

“There is no other environment, to my mind, where the burden of fighting is placed squarely on the shoulders of our most inexperienced and junior soldiers than in our land forces, and I'm looking at you because it's on you that the defence of this nation will rest if ultimately you are called to fight.”

The Independent has approached the Ministry of Defence for comment.