Former Navy chief attacks MoD

12 April 2012

Britain's Armed Forces are in danger of being reduced to a "gendarmerie" incapable of defending the country's interests, the former head of the Royal Navy warned.

Admiral Sir Alan West, who retired as First Sea Lord earlier this year, accused the Ministry of Defence of acting like "these tinpot countries" which failed to invest in major military equipment programmes.

In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph he warned that the reshaping of the Armed Forces to wage anti-terror operations in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan could be jeopardising Britain's long term security.

"That way is a recipe for disaster for a defence force that has to do all the things that Britain may have to do in the next 50 years," he said.

In ten years time, he said, the country could find itself confronted by a threat "far more dangerous than terrorism in central Asia".

"All we could be left with are an Armed Forces that are effectively a gendarmerie. And I suppose we would retire to our island and hope no one gets to us," he said.

Sir Alan expressed concern that the MoD could be preparing to axe the Royal Navy's two planned new aircraft carriers.

"The carrier programme is the jewel in the crown of the strategic defence review. Yet there are officials within the MoD who are casting lascivious looks at it," he said.

"There is no doubt that the rats are out there having a nibble. If Britain wants to remain a world power and to operate with a deal of freedom around the world, these two carriers are vital."

Sir Alan is the latest senior military figure to speak out about the state of the Armed Forces after both the head of the Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, and his immediate predecessor, General Sir Mike Jackson, voiced their concerns.

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