George Robertson claims the Defense Ministry would not know where to find most of those eligible to serve in the event of an urgent need
The UK has effectively lost contact with tens of thousands of reservists who would be called up in a national emergency, George Robertson, a former NATO secretary general and a lead adviser for the Strategic Defense Review (SDR), has said.
Amid the broader Western militarization over a perceived Russian threat – claims repeatedly dismissed by Moscow as “nonsense” – the UK rolled out its new SDR last November, outlining a shift to “warfighting readiness” by 2035. The plan calls for raising defense spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027, and, among other things, revitalizing the strategic reserve.
An armed forces bill is now being prepared to implement the reforms, including raising the recall age from 55 to 65 and expanding call-up criteria to cover “warlike operations,” not just direct attacks or emergencies.
However, speaking at a lecture in Salisbury this week, Robertson said that the government does not have valid contact or health data for most of its roughly 95,000 “high-readiness” reservists.
“What the review talks about is having the strategic reserve… But the Ministry of Defense at the present moment doesn’t even know where most of them are,” he said, as cited by The Guardian. “So we need to sort of round up those who are available and fit and willing to be able to do it.”
The British Army is already at its smallest size in more than two centuries, with fewer than 70,000 fully trained personnel ready for frontline deployment, alongside an active reserve of around 32,000. The strategic reserve, meanwhile, consists of former service members, with regular contact typically maintained only for the first six years after they leave, leaving a larger, older cohort off the radar.
Robertson called for mapping reservists’ locations and skills and “mak[ing] a more concerted effort to engage them under a refreshed veterans’ communications strategy.” He also criticized delays in funding and preparedness, accusing Prime Minister Keir Starmer of “corrosive complacency” and putting the country “in peril” at a time it was “under attack.”
The UK, a key backer of Ukraine, has justified its role by claiming Russia could target Europe after the conflict. Starmer himself has repeatedly cited the alleged threat to push for higher defense spending, telling the Munich Security Conference in February that Europe “must be ready to deter aggression” and “fight” Russia “if necessary,” while claiming that Moscow would accelerate rearmament after any peace deal.
Russia has dismissed such claims, arguing they are used to justify higher military spending, distract from domestic issues, and stall peace efforts.
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