The world is more dangerous than it was during the Cold War – but we can’t even protect ourselves, warns former British Navy chief

The world is more dangerous today than it was during the Cold War and Britain is unprepared to defend itself, a former naval chief has warned.

Admiral West despaired at the future vulnerability of the “hollowed out” military and Royal Navy, while slamming increases in the defense budget that were “too little, too late”.

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Speaking on The Sun’s World at War programme, Lord West claimed the world was “finally” waking up to the multiple threats facing our island nation.

The former navy secretary fully agreed with Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s assessment last month that the world was the “most volatile and dangerous” since the Cold War.

But, he added, the era when the nuclear sabers of the global superpowers rattled “was safer in some ways because everyone understood it.”

He argued that today’s world is “very unpredictable,” citing wars in Ukraine, Gaza and Sudan, and rising tensions in the South China Sea.

But as British leaders move into what they call a “pre-war world”, Mr West declared that Britain’s armed forces are “not the size they should be”.

“I think people are finally realizing, ‘Oh my God, we’ve put too much emphasis on defense,'” he said, adding that for too long, the military has been “hollowed out.” He added.

When British warships reach the end of their lives, they will fall and there will be nothing left.

Admiral Lord West

The Falklands War hero added: “Spending on defense often stops wars. It shows people you mean business and it acts as a deterrent…We need to really get into it now. ” he added.

The UK’s plan to raise defense spending by 2.5% by 2030, generating an extra £75bn for the military, is “too little, too late”, Lord West claimed.

“I’m glad we know there’s a problem,” he said, but said he believes more than 3% is needed to strengthen defenses.

“The UK needs more ships now.”

The combat capabilities of the Royal Navy were also central to Lord West’s concerns.

He questioned Defense Secretary Grant Shapps’ statement that the UK was in a “golden age of shipbuilding”, pointing out that investment over the years had been substandard.

If Britain were to find itself in a “hot war”, “what we don’t yet have is the scale to secure protection for, say, vital transatlantic trade”.

“We don’t have enough ships to make sure we’re with the carriers to do the carrier strike operations that we have to do.”

Lord West also said new warships, including the Type 26 frigates with anti-submarine warfare capabilities, were unlikely to be ready until the mid-2030s.

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“The last time we’ll get one will be in the 2040s or so. If there’s a war in the next three or four years, it’s bad.”

The problem, he argued, was a lack of investment made well in advance, which would leave the Royal Navy empty and vulnerable in the coming years.

Lord West said: “Where is the funding for this program? There was no funding until Grant Shapps announced it last week.

“And we have consistently done this for orders in the shipbuilding industry, and that is why we are in the terrible position we are in.

“I should have ordered sooner… [because] At the end of its life, the ship will fall and there will be nothing left. ”

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