ARMY CHIEF SAYS LEADERS WILL SEEK DEFENCE SACRIFICES

General Sir Roly Walker said Britain’s political leaders would soon ask the public to accept sacrifices to prioritise defence and security. The chief of the general staff made the remarks to around 700 soldiers at Catterick Garrison in North Yorkshire. He said leaders would begin a “frank conversation” with citizens about the risks facing Britain and what the country must prepare to do. Walker did not specify what people might be asked to give up.

British Forces Broadcasting Service recorded Walker’s address. “You didn’t know this, but our nation is going to need you,” he told the soldiers. He said the country had previously avoided thinking about a time when it might need its soldiers to fight in a war. Walker described “extreme jeopardy in the world at the moment” and said world affairs had brought soldiering back into public thought.

Walker said political leaders would need to explain why they regarded the present period as dangerous. He said citizens needed to understand what the Army did for them and consent to its work. Leaders would also ask people to play a part in the country’s defence and security, he said. Walker gave no details of how the public would be expected to help and placed no date on the proposed conversation beyond saying it would happen “very soon”.