EXCLUSIVE General who fought in conflicts from the Balkans to the Middle East hits out at anxious Gen Z Brits who are ‘too worried’ to go to war
- EXCLUSIVE: General Sir Richard Barrons says Gen Z are ‘put off’ joining forces
- The ex-commander’s comment comes as the military faces a recruitment crisis
Younger ‘Generation Z’ Brits are ‘too worried’ to go to war and are turning their backs on a career in the armed forces, a top General has warned.
General Sir Richard Barrons, who has fought in conflicts from the Balkans to Middle East, feared anxious 18 to 26-year-olds were being ‘put off’ by the rigours of military service, which ‘doesn’t sit comfortably’ with their woke views.
Sir Richard, former Commander of Joint Forces Command, was speaking out as the military continues to struggle to find enough new troops to bolster its ranks, with the General fearing the current recruiting crisis had left the armed forces ‘threadbare’.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Sir Richard, 64, said: ‘We have arrived at this position where the armed forces are threadbare and this Gen Z that are nervous of soldiering.
‘They are more worried about the danger of physical and emotional trauma than other generations appear to have been. That’s putting people off.
The number of people joining Britain’s military has slumped (pictured is a file image of soldiers from the Royal Irish Regiment)
General Sir Richard Barrons, the former Commander of UK Joint Forces Command, feared young Briton’s from Gen Z were ‘too worried’ to go to war
‘The forces exist to either threaten or apply the use of force. That’s to kill people or destroy things. That doesn’t sit comfortably with the zeitgeist of that particular demographic.’
The British Army has shrunk to its smallest size in about 200 years, while the RAF and Royal Navy are also struggling to find enough new recruits, with more people leaving the forces than those joining it.
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Figures from the Ministry of Defence show the numbers joining the military dropped 16.9 per cent, with 2,130 fewer people enlisting than the previous year, with about 10,470 new recruits being hired in all.
But the numbers leaving the armed forces outstripped those coming in, with 16,460 having quit during the same period, an increase of six per cent on the year before.
The slump in recruits come amid fears war could spread, with Russia refusing to stop its invasion of Ukraine and tensions in the Middle East threatening to boil over, as Israel continues with its fight against the Hamas terror group in Gaza.
‘We’ve arrived at a time when the world is becoming even more threatening. Russia is going to spend a third of its income on defence and is mobilising its society in preparation for what it sees as an existential conflict in the west,’ Sir Richard said.
‘It is very, very dangerous for the UK. For the armed forces to be at a low ebb just as the world becomes more demanding… is very dangerous.’
The comments come as conflicts continue to rage across the globe. Pictured is an Israeli bomb detonating during an attack in Gaza on Friday
Royal Marine commandos line up to storm a compound during a military exercise in Dorset
Russian despot Vladimir Putin last week announced ambitious plans to spend 30 per cent of the country’s fiscal expenditure on rearming the nation’s depleted military.
The hike by Moscow will mean spending on defence and security combined will reach around 40 per cent of all budget expenditure next year.
Meanwhile Britain’s military is facing a staggering £16.9billion blackhole in its new equipment plan, piling more pressure on the MoD’s overall budget, which is expected to see £68billion spent on defence in 2023-24.
In a damning review on Monday, watchdogs from the National Audit Office (NAO) said the MoD’s 10-year programme until 2033 was unaffordable and the projected deficit the biggest since 2012, when the plan was first published.
It puts the estimated costs at £305.5billion against a budget of £288.6billion. Last’s year 10-year estimate was under budget by £2.6billion.
Britain isn’t the only one struggling with military woes; Nato allies Canada has also seen a dip in the number of people joining its navy, while in the US, Gen Z is being blamed for the slump in recruitment, as the US Army, US Navy and US Air Force all fell short of their targets.
Speaking of Gen Z, Sir Richard added: ‘Many are not inclined to fight because they think it’s risky. But the biggest thing I cling onto is the hope that when Gen Z feel that their families, countries and communities are in real jeopardy they will – like so many other generations before them – respond to the call to arms if it came.’
In its Spring Budget, the British Government committed to spend an additional £5billion on defence and national security over the next two years.
As set out in the Integrated Review Refresh, the Government’s aspiration over the longer term is to invest 2.5 per cent of GDP in defence.
The MoD said future recruitment was a ‘top priority’, with a spokesman saying: ‘All three services continue to meet their front-line operational commitments.’
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