Britain must be ready to
‘fight and win’ against Russia rather than repeating the mistakes of
appeasement that let Hitler run riot, the new head of the Army warned today.
In a dramatic
intervention, General Sir Patrick Sanders said the country faces a ‘1937
moment’ over Vladimir Putin’s ‘brutal aggression’ – a reference to the
notorious policy of giving ground to the German dictator before the Second
World War.
He said the will to ‘act
rapidly’ was the only way to prevent Russia’s expansionism from ending in an all-out
war in Europe.
‘I will have an answer to my
grandchildren should they ever ask what I did in 2022,’ General Sanders said,
adding that Beijing will be ‘watching carefully’ to see how the West
responds.
Underlining the stark message,
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace is expected to call for a major boost to military
spending at the same Royal United Services Institute conference later.
The calls for armament came
after NATO – which is holding a crunch summit in the coming days.
