Fast Track Citizenship For Immigrants Who Join British Army, Says Former MI6 Head
Sir Richard Dearlove former Chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service MI6 (Alamy)
3 min read
The former head of MI6 has suggested the government could fast-track citizenship for immigrants who join the British armed forces to boost military numbers.
Sir Richard Dearlove, who led the intelligence service for five years between 1999-2004, wrote in The House magazine that the UK's armed forces are "much too small" and while "sophisticated weapons systems can compensate for manpower", the conflict in Ukraine has shown the importance of "boots on the ground".
Dearlove, now chair of the board of trustees at the University of London, said the UK may need to be "put partially on a wartime footing" and that defence spending should rise to 3 per cent of GDP as a "good point of departure".
Dearlove is the latest military figure to urge ministers to increase defence spending in light of the US move to hold talks with Russia over bringing the war in Ukraine in war to an end.
The Donald Trump administration has started negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin without asking Ukraine or other European countries to participate. At the same time, Trump has indicated that the US will play a reduced role in protecting the West from aggressors under his leadership.
As things stand, the Labour government is committed to raising defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP in the future.
However, Starmer is facing pressure, including from some Labour MPs, to quickly hit a higher level.
Dearlove said ministers must be "imaginative" to significantly increase army numbers.
He said that the government should consider making it easier for immigrants to secure citizenship in return for military service.
"The UK government...needs imaginative policies that will rapidly increase recruitment into the armed forces – for example using financial incentives to reward a commitment to sign up for a minimum of five years of service," he wrote.
"Could immigrants also be offered an accelerated route towards citizenship?"
"Though it is premature to start planning for the British soldiers to police an armistice line, if British regular units are to be deployed into Europe in greater numbers there would need to be some rapid backfilling."
Dearlove also said that the defence review being undertaken by Lord Robertson "now looks more like tactical hesitation than a bold step into a new security world".
He added that Starmer "should not wait for Robertson to report but must immediately announce a defence budget of three per cent of GDP", leaving Robertson to adapt "his review to spending recommendations".
"The economic cost of all this, of course, implies very difficult decisions. Defence and security must have a primary call on government spending – the country, for a period, may even need to be put partially on a wartime footing."
Dearlove wrote that politicians have been "evasive about the seriousness of the threats to the security of the whole European space" up to this point.
Starmer on Wednesday will travel to Washington for talks with Trump as part of his effort to act as a "bridge" between Europe and the White House.
The Prime Minister wants to persuade the US to provide Ukraine with security guarantees as part of a peace deal in order to deter future Russian aggression.
Last week, Starmer told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky he was the "democratically elected leader" of his country after Trump caused outrage in Europe by calling him a "dictator".
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