'FORCES TOO BROKEN TO DEFEND UK'

General warns Chancellor the MoD urgently needs £3bn to be fighting fit

- Marco Giannangeli

BRITAIN'S Armed Forces need a £3billion annual boost to keep their status as Europe's leading military power, a general said last night.

Gen Sir Richard Barrons called for Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to sanction the funding to replace weapons and tanks given to Ukraine, and stop "deliberately keeping defence broken".

The man who headed Joint Forces Command until 2016 cited "political incontinence" at the heart of Downing Street, which he said is failing to recognise the challenge Russia will pose once the war in Ukraine ends.

He said: "We have an Army that can issue PPE and drive ambulances but is in no state to fight. We are at a point where the world is much more threatening while our Armed Forces are at their most broken since the Cold War." His warning also follows a claim by a senior US general that the UK is no longer a top-level fighting force able to defend its allies.

While Defence Secretary Ben Wallace is desperately trying to convince the Treasury to raise spending by £10billion in next month's Budget, Gen Sir Richard noted: "Prioritising domestic issues such as boats in the Channel when the UK faces a looming existential crisis is just political incontinence.

"We have never felt smaller and never have the key decision makers at the heart of government felt more disconnected from the reality we all face.

"They are refusing to acknowledge the world we live in by deliberately keeping defence broken at the most critical time for a generation." Unwaivering supUkraine port for comes at a price. The Ministry of Defence has and given equipment ammunition worth more than £4billion in the past year.

The UK will take over from Germany and lead Nato's Very High Readiness Taskforce, a 5,000-strong military unit ready to respond to crisis at a moment's notice, from December.

But it is not clear if the 14 Challenger tanks being given to Ukraine can be replaced by then.