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BRITAIN is facing wars in Russia, China, Iran and North Korea in five years but there are still no plans to grow the Army, Grant Shapps said today.
The world is now in a “pre-war” phase, ahead of a possible World War Three, the Defence Secretary warned.
In a major speech at Lancaster House in London, he urged Britain and its allies to ramp up defence spending, insisting: “The era of the peace dividend is over.”
He added: “In five years’ time we could be looking at multiple theatres involving Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.”
He said the Ukraine war had put the future of the world order at stake.
China was watching to see if the West lost patience, he added.
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Iran had enriched uranium — used in nuclear weapons — to 83.7 per cent.
And North Korea was threatening to expand its arsenal.
Mr Shapps was unable to say when the Government would hit its target of spending 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence but would “strive to reach it as soon as possible”.
He said there were no plans to reverse Boris Johnson’s cuts that took the Army to 73,000 personnel, its smallest in 300 years.
He added: “I haven’t changed the plans. A lot of people confuse and conflate troop numbers with how well defended you are.”
In his brief Tory leadership bid, Mr Shapps called for a defence spend of three per cent of GDP.
Today, he said the country faced tough choices “on the future of our national defences”.
He added: “The choice is stark. Some people, especially on the Left, have a tendency to talk Britain down.
“They believe Britain can no longer have the power to influence world events.
“I passionately believe these unpatriotic, Britain-belittling doom-mongers are simply wrong.”
Senior defence sources said Rishi Sunak was reluctant to fund the MoD at the expense of others.
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