Right-wing says Army training freeze puts Britain’s readiness at risk
Right-wing says Army training freeze puts Britain’s readiness at risk
Right-wing reports portray the suspension of major British Army exercises as a cash-driven blow to readiness, while the Army and Ministry of Defence say training has been refocused toward deployability and lessons from Ukraine.
The dispute centres on whether restricting large collective exercises is a necessary short-term prioritisation or a dangerous erosion of the force’s ability to operate at scale. Units not preparing for deployment, standby duties or rapid-response roles have reportedly been told to halt collective training involving more than 90 personnel.
The reported measures have cancelled a planned six-week Wales exercise involving Challenger 2 tanks and Apache helicopters, with the savings estimated at £30 million. Training in smaller groups, including weapons handling, driving and drone use, is expected to continue, as are computer-based command exercises.
Critics argue that these alternatives cannot fully substitute for formations training together. Former Chief of the General Staff Gen Sir Patrick Sanders called the decision “unbelievably shortsighted,” while Justin Maciejewski, director of the National Army Museum, described it as “a scandal” and said such a suspension was unprecedented since the Second World War. A senior military source separately called the effect “absolutely devastating,” arguing that cancelled exercises could leave commanders with large numbers of personnel without meaningful collective training.
The Army’s position is more qualified: it says the changes reflect a shift in priorities rather than an end to training. It maintains that the Ukraine war has underlined the vulnerability of large armoured formations and the need for drone, counter-drone and mobile warfare skills. An Army spokesperson said, “Our training continues and we are prioritising activity that contributes most directly to readiness, deployability and operational effectiveness.”
That argument is reinforced by a planned £2 billion, 15-year training transformation programme, though the new funding is not due until next year. Critics see the timing as the central contradiction: an Army promising future modernisation while scaling back the collective preparation it needs now.
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