BRITAIN is woefully unprepared to defend itself in a military crisis, MPs have warned.
The Commons Defence Committee questioned our ability to meet obligations following ‘s invasion of .
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (right) and Defence Secretary John Healey (centre) speak with British armed forces personnel in front of a UK Typhoon fighter jet at Tusas airbase in AnkaraCredit: PA
The Army has just 70,000 fully trained soldiersCredit: Alamy
Russian President Vladimir Putin during a Kremlin meetingCredit: Getty
A report said the UK “lacks a plan for defending the homeland and overseas territories”.
Chairman Tan Dhesi said we cannot “bury our heads in the sand” as Russian despot ramps up his attacks and European allies “bank on protection from the US”.
The report blasts the Government for moving at a “glacial pace” on homeland defence.
Mr Dhesi said: “We have repeatedly heard concerns about the UK’s ability to defend itself from attack.
“Government must be willing to grasp the nettle and prioritise homeland defence and resilience.”
The findings follow an 11-month inquiry, which included visits to Nato sites across , as well as evidence from defence experts and military chiefs.
In July, Luke Pollard, the then Armed Forces minister, told the committee: “I think we have been very clear that we are not satisfied with Article 3 in the UK.
“But, equally, I think that is a position that every European Nato member state is clear on as well.”
Leading military expert Professor Peter Roberts told MPs the public needed to know how at risk they were due to the country’s lack of missile defence.
He told the inquiry: “There has been no political will to make the difficult decisions, or to be honest with the public and say ‘we’re not going to stop missiles coming and hitting you.
“A set of you are going to die, hospitals are going to go under, and you will be without food, water, sewers and electricity’.”
The review comes months after PM Sir unveiled the Strategic Defence Review, a programme to transform Britain’s Armed Forces, including his pledge to ramp up defence spending.
However, MPs yesterday expressed “deep concern” at the delays to the Home Defence Programme promised within the SDR, with the inquiry finding cross-party working on homeland defence and resilience is “nowhere near where it needs to be”.
The Army has just 70,000 fully trained soldiers, having shrunk to its smallest size since the Napoleonic wars, while the is blighted by poor availability of its attack subs.
As part of the efforts to boost our readiness, Defence Secretary will today unveil 13 new weapons factories to boost Britain’s firepower.
This is part of a strategy to mass-manufacture munitions domestically for the first time in a generation and end the UK’s reliance on foreign supply chains.
The government hopes for work on the first factory to begin next year – with the new facilities to produce high explosives, rocket propellants and ignition systems to scale.
It is committing £1.5billion to build at least six factories as part of a wider £6billion investment in munitions during the current , with the scheme to create over 1,000 new .
A spokesman said: “Later today the Defence Secretary will outline his plans to bolster the UK’s warfighting readiness, keeping Britain secure at home and strong abroad.
“This includes identifying multiple sites across the UK for new factories to make munitions and military explosives as we move to the next phase of building factories of the future.
“Choices taken by the Chancellor at the upcoming Budget will ensure no return to the hollowed out and underfunded Armed Forces of the past, as we continue the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War, allowing us to invest in the modern capabilities to keep the country safe.”
