‘It’s beyond embarrassing, it’s dangerous’: why Britain must fund defence | Sir Richard Barrons

Britain’s defence review is now a year old – but the government is still arguing over how to pay for it. John Healey, the (now former) defence secretary, has resigned over the failure to set out an adequate plan to meet the need to modernise our armed forces.

General Sir Richard Barrons, one of the architects of the Strategic Defence Review, joins Coffee House Shots to explain why the funding row is about more than budgets. He warns that Britain’s armed forces have been hollowed out after decades of cuts, that modern war is moving at the speed of AI and that Russia does not need to invade Britain to threaten daily life.

Is Britain ready for the next war? What happens if America no longer comes to Europe’s defence? And has the political class failed to explain the scale of the danger?

Tim Shipman speaks to General Sir Richard Barrons.

Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

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