South Holland and the Deepings MP John Hayes says we must learn lessons from the Ukraine war

In his latest column, MP Sir John Hayes says our country must learn lessons from the war in Ukraine...

On February 24, 2022, Vladimir Putin ordered his second invasion of Ukraine since 2014. Whilst resultant domestic concerns continue here, the guns have been thundering continuously on the plains of Ukraine for over a year now.

Earlier this month, when the Ukrainian leader Volodymir Zelenskyy spoke in Parliament’s Westminster Hall, I heard him remind MPs and Peers of the immense sacrifices his fellow Ukrainians – alongside international volunteers – are making to keep the forces of the Kremlin at bay.

He offered, to the sound of appreciative applause, thanks for the exceptional support the United Kingdom has given to his country. His visit also emphasised that this is a struggle, not a moment. The war is far from over.

I spoke last summer about the nature of this conflict, knowing that, though much has changed since the trench-to-trench fighting of the First World War and the street-to-street fighting of the Second, much remains the same. Conventional warfare is still dependent on the courage of men and the adequacy of arms.

In recent years, a good deal has been said about the future conduct of warfare, with a general assumption that - given the pervasive potency of technology - manpower, at scale, will be of reduced significance. I am not so sure.

As we have faced the worldwide consequences of rising energy costs and high inflation in the past year, Ukrainians and Russians are dying in their thousands on the European continent.

The heroism of Ukraine’s defenders puts our day-to-day lives in perspective, but it also begs the question of how ready our country is to face challenges in an increasingly unstable and dangerous world.

Take the British Army for instance - for all the good work of our Defence Secretary, we must now address the question of how many more men, guns, tanks, and artillery shells we need to defend our Kingdom and Commonwealth, and how soon we will need them. For who knows what the future holds?

Some forecasts suggest we would run out of artillery ammunition in two weeks fighting a war of equivalent ferocity to the one in Ukraine!

Today the British Army is just 76,000 strong – less than half the size it was when Margaret Thatcher left office in 1990. The Army has not been as small since Napoleonic times.

As for the Royal Navy, our fleet has shrunk drastically since the Falklands War. The number of significant ships in the Navy (carriers, battleships, cruisers, destroyers and submarines) has fallen by around 74% since then.

Ronald Reagan was right in 1986 when he said “to be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace.”

We must heed the lessons from the war in Ukraine, and make sure our country is prepared for any future crisis that we may face. That means reconsidering the defence budget, recruiting more soldiers, sailors and airmen, and giving them the tools they need to do their jobs.

Whilst political issues ebb and flow, we are privileged to be able to consider our national priorities by democratic means through the sovereign Parliament Mr Zelenskyy addressed.

In Ukraine, men, women, and children are dying on a daily basis for just that privilege.