'This is how ready the UK is for war - we have to wake up to dark times ahead'

'This is how ready the UK is for war - we have to wake up to dark times ahead'The British government and military has been warned to get ready for war - and this time it is by the very man who has studied the UK Armed Forces long and hardCommentsNewsopinionChris Hughes Defence and Security Editor14:15, 14 Apr 2026Updated 14:16, 14 Apr 2026View 6 ImagesThere are 37,900 in the Royal Navy and just under 35,000 in the RAF, with the majority of troops still men(Image: PA)The UK military has been hugely depleted by successive post Cold War governments tapping into the peace dividend. Ex-NATO chief Lord George Robertson has blasted the “corrosive complacency” of previous leaderships, saying Iran marks a “rude wake up call” for the UK. And today the former Labour defence secretary plans to say in a speech in Salisbury that despite being “under attack” the UK is “unprepared” and “unsafe.”‌Despite Lord Robertson’s warning the UK’s military remains one of the strongest in NATO and still stands out in Europe as a leading force. Its shortage of available troops has not been helped by 14 years of previous Tory-led rule during which Army recruitment was privatised in 2012. The job of attracting soldier recruits was given to Capita and proved to be a disaster with repeated shortfalls and inefficiencies. Now there are some 109,000 troops in the UK Army, although this only includes around 73,000 regulars and 36,000 reserves.‌View 6 ImagesLord Robertson blamed the ballooning welfare budget and a lack of urgency from the PM for the UK being unprepared for war(Image: PA)‌READ MORE: Israeli spies persuaded Donald Trump to ignore US intelligence and go to warREAD MORE: Putin's Kremlin bomb plot to disrupt Hungary elections and blame Ukraine smashedThere are 37,900 in the Royal Navy and just under 35,000 in the RAF, with the majority of troops still men, who make up 120,700 of UK personnel, with 16,300 women. The average age of a Brit serving in the UK military is now 31. In...