General Sir Patrick Sanders, the head of the British army, stated at a recent military convention that British citizens needed to be ready for conflict with Russia.
In a separate case, he stated that both men and women in Britain would need to be ready for armed service if NATO begins an open war with Russia.
He likewise called for increasing defense budget of the kingdom, and stated that citizens needed to be trained: “Our friends in eastern and northern Europe who feel the threat from Russia in most strongly have already laid the foundations for drafting civilians. We will not be immune and as the prewar generation we must similarly prepare – and that is a whole-of-nation undertaking. Ukraine brutally illustrates that regular armies start wars; citizen armies win them.”
“The cold war peace dividend is over. Over the last 30 years, the army has been halved in size; in the last 12 years, we’ve absorbed a 28% reduction.”
He also stated that recruitment was a challenge, although requests to enlist had reached a six-year high.
The British Defense Ministry later published a clarification that there was no plan to institute mandatory draft service for civilians.