Rishi Sunak could cough up to reverse plans to slash British Army to 72,000 amid Ukraine crisis

RISHI Sunak could cough up to reverse plans to slash the British Army to 72,000 within weeks, The Sun can reveal.

MPs believe the Chancellor will use his Spring Statement on March 23 to massively hike defence spending as the Russia threat explodes.

A planned cut of 10,000 troops was unveiled last year but are still deeply resented within the Ministry of Defence despite a wider uplift in defence spending.

Now that troop cut decision could be reversed in light on the growing threat from the Kremlin.

A senior Whitehall source said: “Critically it’s only been talked about, nothing has actually been cut yet so it's not too late.”

On Sunday Defence Secretary Ben Wallace hinted at u-turn, telling the Telegraph the PM “has always been open” to revisiting defence funding “if the threat changes.

"And of course, we look at those funding levels," he added.

His Labour shadow John Healey also told Sky News yesterday that he expects there to be a "big boost to defence" in the Spring Statement.

On Saturday, The Sun revealed that statement will now likely be far more significant event than previously planned due to the soaring cost of gas due to the war in Ukraine.

Last night allies of Mr Sunak said no formal request to reverse troop cuts had been received but he would study any proposal in light of the Kremlin’s aggression.

A Treasury source said: “We are pulling out all the stops to tighten the screw on Putin, as well as giving a massive boost to defence spending and security to the tune of £24 billion.”