French ‘concern’ over British Army as Berlin asked to lead NATO force | UK | News

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French MPs have expressed concern over the condition of Britain’s Armed Forces, suggeting the UK has given too much of its own supplies to the war effort in Ukraine. The worry comes just days after reports in Germany claimed NATO requested Berlin to remain in charge of the defensive alliance’s rapid-reaction force for an extra year, despite Britain being expected to take leadership of it in 2024. Citing Paris officials, The Telegraph reports budget cuts to the UK’s military has generated alarm among fellow NATO members.

Ben Wallace, who has travelled to Brussels to meet with other alliance defence secretaries, is said to be demanding £10billion for his department in the upcoming budget.

The war in Ukraine, as well as an increasing threat from China following the interception of suspected spy balloons by the US, have sparked the calls for additional resources. A leading French politician told the publication France was concerned that Britain had depleted its own forces by giving weapons to Ukraine from its own stock.

French parliamentary defence committee president Thomas Gassilloud said France, due to reasons of “strategic solidarity”, had a vested interest in the strength of the British military.

Mr Gassilloud said: “We want the British to have a strong army. When you have this type of debate it clearly is a source of concern. I have well understood that there is a political context to this regarding the defence budget and if this debate comes now it’s because everyone wants to weigh in on this debate.”

The French MP, who is a member of Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance group, also issued a note of caution over the means by which the UK has given military equipment to Ukraine.

Mr Gassilloud said: “One of our criteria for giving away equipment is the condition of not weakening the French military. For example, last week we pledged more Caesar howitzers but these came directly from industry to the Ukrainians and were not taken from army stock.

“I think that all the equipment sent by the British to Ukraine appears to have been taken from army stock. We pay careful attention this is not the case.”

This comes against the backdrop of Mr Wallace being touted as a possible replacement for Jens Stoltenberg as Nato Secretary-General.

Earlier, German media reported that Berlin was being asked to continue to lead NATO’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) as Britain could not spare the 5,000 military personnel required.

The VJTF has been described as the “tip of the spear” and is set up to respond immediately to an external attack.

A MailOnline source in the MoD said: “There are serious problems with ammunition shortages and other kit which is partly due to underspending – but also because of the amount of ammo and other ordnance we are supplying to Ukraine. Our forces are also stretched because of the extent to which they are training Ukrainian forces.”

Table.Media, a well respected German outlet that releases high-level defence briefings, reported that NATO was worried the UK would have the resources to pick up the slack and lead the VJTF as planned on January 1 2024.

Unofficially, the outlet claimed, the German military had been approached by NATO about staying in command of the VJTF for another year.



However, Express.co.uk exclusively revealed on 14 February that Lieutenant Colonel Ben Hawes, who is preparing to lead the VJTF from January 1 next year, doesn’t feel like Britain is “under-resourced”.

“There’s no distraction”, he said. “If I ask for it, I get it. I don’t feel like we’ve been under-resourced. Everything has been thrown at making sure we are completely credible.”

Major Simon Cox, of 2nd Battalion, the Royal Anglian Regiment, said: “We can talk about tanks, we can talk about artillery, and we have to get all of these things right, but we also need to be in a position where we’ve got blokes ready to fix bayonets on their rifles and jump into a trench and fight someone.

“My experience of being a British infantry soldier is that British soldiers are always up for a scrap. I don’t think there would be many people who say no if we get the call to get on the plane tomorrow to Eastern Europe. I don’t think there would be many people who disappear into the night. The troops will be ready for that.

“We are focused on being prepared to fight against a nature of warfare and at an intensity that is the highest we could ever be asked to as an infantry group. This is not at the steady tempo of counter-insurgency. This is our ability to operate against an enemy that has the same capabilities or even greater capabilities than we do.”





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