Britons face call to fight in the armed forces if UK goes to war with Russia, top chief warns

The headline is from this Independent article.

But the fact is I have seen a lot of the MSM here in blighty punting this. I have also read articles saying Conscription isn't required.

I don't know about anyone else but I can see there not being nearly as many volunteers signing up as they expect. I feel that the people have no taste for war and the number of conscientious objecters being rather high?

Just my opinion and willing to be proved wrong, or right lol.

What say you?

I also wonder if this mere sabre rattling or a warning for what's to come....

At this present moment the UK military does not have the infrastructure or senior ranks and officers to cope with a sudden popular mobilisation. Even and increase from 2 to 3% of GDP would not even come close to addressing that issue. So, speaking as a Civil Servant in the M.o.D. Conscription is nowhere near becoming a reality and I can't see that changing in the short, medium or medium long term.

They are making their own hell, it was known that if they supplied weapons to Ukraine that Ukraine used to hit targets inside of Russia that they could be dragged into the war. They ignored the warning, as did some other countries and believed irresponsibly and stupidly that Zelinski would not use them to attack Russia.

a reply to: rickymouse

Couldn't agree with you more, they knew the risks and the people wouldn't have wanted them to risk it I bet

This is just the Chief Rupert doing his toys out of the pram departure speech. They all do it.
a reply to: djz3ro

Our country is totally falling apart. Roads full of potholes that never get repaired, buses that never turn up, schools falling apart, an excellent economy on its last legs. Yet there's always a few more billion pounds to hand to Zelensky to fuel an inter slav mafia war that is absolutely non of our business whatsoever.

Go fight for somewhere we have absolutely no historical, economic, linguistic, ethnic, religious ties whatsoever? Sod that. The loons in Westminster can go fight their wars for themselves and let us live out our lives in our secure island fortress and look after our own.

Yeah, good luck going to war just because you want to go to war. No one is going to get behind that BS. Matter of fact, any major entanglements calling for bodies will be met with mass refusals from the citizenry going forward. Only psychos would "fight" for whatever tf this is right now. I hear rumors of a lot of talent leaving the military currently.

People are sick of the BS.

Fight a war against Russia, why exactly??

🙄Smh.

The UK Armed forces have been in a recruitment and retention crisis for over five years. Hence the adjustments of entry requirements.
a reply to: VariedcodeSole

I replied in another thread that this would never happen, the youth in the UK would absolutely refuse and good luck to anyone trying to go into a place like Brixton and force people into the forces against their will.

Add to the fact that Russia is not an immediate threat and wouldn't get boots on the ground in Europe let alone the UK and it's a ridiculous statement that was essentially just to try and get more funding. Modern warfare is fought with missiles unless an invading army are on your doorstep and that's not the case, nor will it ever be the case with Russia.

The biggest threat to the UK is terrorism from within and beyond Russia ordering some of their own spies and intelligence operatives to be assasinated on British soil, they are not the terrorists that have or will commit terrorist attacks against UK citizens.

The problem the UK is having is borne from their own incompetence.

There is absolutely no appetite for war, in fact, to go to war now would destroy the country, which I think the plan has been all along. The UK population, especially in London (as seen with the Palestinian protests) is largely none-white, immigrant background, it's the same for most other cities. If the UK were to send their own men and women to die in a pointless military exercise overseas, which is what a war with Russia is, then that population is skewed even further to the side of none British men and boys to replenish the population, guess who will be doing that whilst you're at war?

There is also the problem of society at large - we're too divided to show a national front on anything, opinions are far too polarized and charged with bigotry and nepotism. If you're not part of group A then you can't do this, this, that ect....

Who wants to die for their multi-millionaire leader, who still takes money from bankrupted councils and feeds it to his middle manager buddies, same goes for the STUPID amount of quango's still knocking around, doing absolutely nothing but filtering wealth upwards.

All this to say, Britain, at the moment, for patriotic and sincere Brits' is NOT worth dying for UNLESS we are attacked, then that changes things. But if we're going to be arming Nazi's accross the pond, and supplying them with LONG RANGE missiles and logistics - then count me out.

I'll die to protect my family and community, but the country at large can get stuffed, they don't represent a single thing that matters to me, or most people for that matter. They're Godless, immoral and deserve what they get, I hope they repent and come back to a sane mindset.

a reply to: djz3ro
All this seems to be coming from the army leaders, who are seizing an opportunity to make the political point that reducing the size of the army is a bad thing. In truth, untrained civilians won't be much help in a modern war.

a reply to: stu119

Agreed 100%
Rainbows
Jane

a reply to: djz3ro

I say the only way the likes of Sunak will ever be able to encourage the majority of fighting-of-age men in the UK, to go to far-off shores, to fight for the bankers and politicians, is if the UK was actually invaded.

Stuff dying for they bastard's troops, it's not like they would return the favor.

a reply to: djz3ro

Majority of the "west" have either the brains to know war is awful and counter productive, or have utterly demoralized themselves into self hating or have been demoralized by outside influences. Russian men, especially young men, have been conditioned to be battle ready soldiers for the last two decades or so.
They even have a holiday around sending kids to school where the boys dress up like military personnel and the girls play nurse.

originally posted by: DISRAELI2
a reply to: djz3ro
In truth, untrained civilians won't be much help in a modern war.

Agreed, they would be cannon fodder and whichever political party sent them off to fight would be obliterated for generations to come.

The UK is safe from an army invasion, any agressor has to take Europe first and thats just not going to happen nowadays.

a reply to: strongfp

The thing is if they are "conditioned to be battle ready soldiers" is not stopping them from dying in droves.

When this is all over and done Russia and Ukraine will be lucky to still have a man standing under pensionable age.

Quite frankly they are destroying an entire generation of people that neither nation can afford to lose given their respective aging populace.

War is a mug's game and anyone who cannot see that probably has a big cup in their claw.

I think the guy is just trying to make a point; our military has been so downsized due to constant defence cuts that we are no longer able to project a viable fighting force let alone defend our own borders should someone ever invade.

Of course we shouldn't be sending our armed forces to fight in any more pointless and needless foreign wars and of course Russia is not about to launch an invasion of these islands....but we should always be prepared for that eventuality, to not be so is negligent.

For whatever reasons successive governments and administrations have let this country fall into serious disrepair whilst actively enabling the syphoning off of obscene amounts of money and resources into private hands.
The country is literally dropping to bits and falling apart and to start to rebuild will be a mammoth task and one that would require putting aside petty party political squabbles and addressing core issues with an honesty that few people in today's world and climate seem capable of.

I firmly believe we have been right in supporting Ukraine and opposing Putin's invasion. If Putin had been allowed to goosestep his way across Ukraine who knows where his ambitions would have stopped.
And we should maintain that support.....but not at the expense of our own safety and security.

originally posted by: djz3ro
I also wonder if this mere sabre rattling or a warning for what's to come....

Bit of both I think ,baring a miracle we will end up at war with Russia the comments by the head of the army are aimed at getting the government to increase the percentage of GDP spent on defence and to wake the population up to the reality of the current situation.