WAR READY
Brits should be conscripted to create a ‘total defence’ against warmongering Putin, warns top Nato ally
About 3million Brits could be called up to fight
BRITS should be conscripted into the military to deter Vladimir Putin from starting World War 3, a key NATO ally says.
The comments come as Putin is set to win another six-year term in office while his army continues its invasion two-year of Ukraine.
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In an interview with , Latvian foreign minister Krisjanis Karins called for NATO countries to adopt a "total defense" military model that Latvia uses.
This would see the UK have a large number of citizen-soldiers who could be called up to fight at a moment's notice.
Latvia reintroduced conscription following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The former prime minister said: “We would strongly recommend this. We are developing and fleshing out a system of what we call a total defence involving all parts of civil society.”
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Karins said: “When they’re discharged, they have their full equipment, they have their unit, they go back to civilian life, they get called up on a regular basis to make sure their training is up to par.
"They would be useful in terms of an actual conflict."
Karins also said the UK would have to increase military spending to three per cent of GDP.
All able-bodied men between 18 and 27 are required to complete 11 months of service and train to defend the 133-mile border with Russia.
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After undergoing basic training, conscripts are folded into professional units so the recruits learn quickly.
Karins said an "elastic" army would deter Russia - of which Britain was a "crucial" member of the NATO alliance.
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Finland has a population of 5.5million but could call up an army of 250,000 people with its conscription programme.
If the UK were to replicate that, it would give Britain an army of around 3million soldiers.
As of January, the UK's standing army had 75,000 active personnel.
Tobias Ellwood, former defence minister, said Karins' suggestion should be taken seriously.
He said: “With Putin securing another six years in office and seeking to emulate Stalin and expand his influence, we too should be reviewing our total defence model.”
But, Lord Dannatt, a former head of the Army disagreed, saying that it made more sense for Latvia as they were right next to Russia.
General Sir Patrick Sanders, Chief of the General Staff, spoke out in January about the need for call-up, amid the threat of World War 3.
We are developing and fleshing out a system of what we call a total defence involving all parts of civil society
Krisjanis Karins
He said: "Our friends in Eastern and Northern Europe, who feel the proximity of the Russian threat more acutely, are already acting prudently, laying the foundations for national mobilisation.
"We will not be immune and as the pre-war generation we must similarly prepare - and that is a whole-of-nation undertaking.
"Ukraine brutally illustrates that regular armies start wars; citizen armies win them.
"Our predecessors failed to perceive the implications of the so-called July Crisis in 1914 and stumbled into the most ghastly of wars. We cannot afford to make the same mistake today."
However, in February, the chief of defence staff played down the conscription fears saying "we are not on the cusp of war with Russia."
Admiral Tony Radakin said: "We can always do better and we advise ministers on what more might need to be done in the future.
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"But it is for politicians to decide how much resource is allocated and where and how this is balanced with wider demands of government.
"Those are sensitive conversations. They are best done in private."
Putin’s next target in his chilling plan to ‘break Nato’
Russian president Vladimir Putin is poised to blast the Baltics with missiles as part of a chilling plan to "break Nato" after his sham re-election, a former Ukrainian MP has warned.
Aliona Hlivco believes the power-mad tyrant is set to ramp up his invasion and could even blitz territories outside Ukraine.
Ageing dictator Putin, 71, is set to cement his grip on power in Russia until at least 2030 as millions take to the polls this weekend.
But with any opposition figure who could have challenged him either in prison, in exile or dead, there is little hope the election will be free or fair.
It means the tyrant - the longest-serving Kremlin leader since Josef Stalin - is destined for a fifth term at the country's helm.
Experts fear it could embolden the glory-mad Russian leader to polish off his legacy with an invasion of Europe.
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