UK’s Readiness to Fight a War Marred by Capability and Recruitment Issues, Say MPs

The Defence Committee warned the Armed Forces are overstretched, leaving little time for training in warfighting.

Undated photo of UK-built HMS Audacious, the fourth of the Royal Navy’s Astute-class submarines LPhot Pepe Hogan/PA

The UK will not be ready to fight an all-out war unless the government addresses the Armed Forces’ capability and stockpile shortages and recruitment crisis, MPs have warned.

The Commons Defence Committee said the military is “consistently overstretched” with the demands of operations, and personnel are deployed leaving little time for training in warfighting.