In an interview, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss defended 10 Downing Street's decision to reduce the maximum capacity of the British troops by 10,000 (from 82,000 down to 72,500) by 2025. The plan was first announced in March 2021 and has remained in force ever since.
Truss argued that the number of personnel in the Army was not the defining factor in the defense of the country nowadays, as the nature of conflict has changed over the past years and requires that the country focus on new things, such as cyber threats, threats in space and new technology.
"We all need to recognize that warfare now is different to warfare as it was 100 years ago, or 200 years ago. We need to make sure that the defense capability we have is fit for purpose for the modern world," Truss said.
The Foreign Secretary further noted that despite the reduction of troops, the UK plans to boost defense spending by £24 billion ($29.45 billion). At the same time, Truss called on other NATO states to boost their spending to bring it on par with the declared NATO goal of 2% of each respective country's GDP or more.
The idea of cutting maximum troop capacity by 10,000 was criticized by opposition Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer, who called on the government to drop such plans. He hinted that the opposition was ready to back an increase to defense spending to the level of 3% of GDP to make that happen.
However, Tory Under-Secretary of State for Defence Leo Docherty did not react to the apparent proposal as he defended 10 Downing Street's plans to cut the servicemen numbers, which stood at 76,500 out of possible 82,000 in March 2021, when the move was first announced.
Truss' comments regarding the reduction of British troops come as NATO countries pledged to boost their military presence in the eastern flank, in proximity to Russia's borders, citing Moscow's decision to launch the special military operation in Ukraine. The alliance members also agreed to consider Russia the "most significant and direct threat" and vowed to provide even more military assistance to Ukraine in hopes it will help Kiev defeat Moscow's forces.
The Kremlin repeatedly warned Western countries against supplying weapons to Ukraine because they can fall into the wrong hands and undermine security in Europe. Moscow also argued that such shipments only prolong the conflict and indicate that the Western countries don't care about the Ukrainian lives lost in the process.