PM and Chancellor understand British Army is 'in urgent need of recapitalisation', minister says

The Chancellor and the Prime Minister understand the Army is "in urgent need of recapitalisation" and "there is a budget coming", a defence minister has said.

James Heappey's comments came after the Conservative chairman of the Defence Select Committee Tobias Ellwood pressed him on the state of the Army.

It comes after defence sources said a senior US general told the Defence Secretary the British Army is no longer regarded as a top-level fighting force, according to Sky News.

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According to the broadcaster, a US general told Defence Secretary Ben Wallace the UK hasn't got a "tier one [army] – it’s barely tier two".

Sky News also reported that one of the anonymous defence sources said the Army is an "entire service unable to protect the UK and our allies for a decade".

Mr Ellwood asked Mr Wallace in the Commons: "Could I invite the minister to respond to comments from the United States, our closest security ally, which tally with the defence committee's own findings that this conflict in Ukraine has exposed serious shortfalls in the warfighting capability of the British Army?

"This is not about the professionalism of individuals, units or formations, but about the overall combat strength and the equipment they use, as well as the ability to meet increasing demands caused by the deteriorating threat picture."

Armed Forces and Veterans minister Mr Heappey replied: "I think everybody is clear.

"The Secretary of State has said many times, as have I and other ministerial colleagues, that serial under-investments in the Army over decades has led to the point where the Army is in urgent need of recapitalisation.

"The Chancellor and the Prime Minister get that and there is a budget coming."

Shadow defence secretary John Healey noted that when Labour left government in 2010, the British Army "stood at over 100,000 full-time troops and we were spending 2.5% of GDP on defence".

"The serious hollowing out has happened since. Who does he think has been in charge over the last 13 years?" he asked.

Mr Wallace responded: "You only have to listen to the veterans on this side to understand their experience under a Labour government.

"Snatch Land Rovers – let's remember that and all that awful mess as a result of the Labour government's investment.

"If (Mr Healey) wants to be the next secretary of defence, he should come here and get off his chest the shortcomings that his former government did.

"I'm happy to say that we have hollowed out and underfunded. Will he do the same? Or will he hide behind petty party politics?"

Mr Heappey's comments come after Mr Ellwood said we should be "very concerned" over the strength of the Army, with many of the key components of the British Army's land warfare now 20 to 50 years old, which is "unacceptable".

Downing Street acknowledged that there had been "underfunding" of the military but insisted that billions of pounds had been committed to equipment.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "We certainly agree there has been underfunding and it's right that we are putting billions more into our Armed Forces."

In response to Mr Heappey's comments, the spokesman said: "We recognise that the Armed Forces have not received the money needed in successive years.

"That’s why we put into place the £242 billion 10-year equipment plan and it's why we raised the defence budget so we continue to be the largest defence budget in Europe.

"That investment is the biggest in the UK defence industry since the Cold War."