General Sir Richard Barrons has warned that the British Army is only capable of seizing a small market town, highlighting a significant reduction in the UK's military capabilities since the Cold War. Speaking on the BBC podcast The Briefing Room, Sir Richard, who co-wrote the Government's Strategic Defence Review, said the army could do 'one very small thing' and 'essentially, it could seize a small market town on a good day.'
The retired officer noted that the army has halved in size from about 150,000 regulars and 73,000 reserves in 1990 to around 70,000 regulars and 23,000 reserves today. The Royal Air Force has shrunk from 850 combat jets to 160, while the Royal Navy now has 13 major surface combatant ships, down from 50, and cannot deploy all of them simultaneously.
Dr Jack Watling of the Royal United Services Institute supported Sir Richard's assessment, pointing out that Ukraine lost approximately 10,000 personnel defending the town of Bakhmut—a figure nearly equivalent to the entire infantry force of the British military. He stressed that NATO's demands require 'substantially more capability' than the UK currently possesses.
The warnings come amid ongoing political debates over defence spending. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has committed to spending 2.6% of GDP on defence from next year, with a target of 3.5% by 2035. However, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch accused Starmer of having his 'head in the sand' on defence, while Tory MP Ben Obese-Jecty claimed Germany had to bail out the Royal Navy after a frigate took over from HMS Dragon in a NATO task force.
