James Heappey says UK should consider sending troops to Ukraine – but away from the frontline

The UK should consider sending troops to Ukraine to give training and other support to Ukrainian forces in the war with Russia – though away from the frontline, former armed forces minister James Heappey has said.

He also told Sky News that Britain needs to be better prepared for war at a time of growing threats, including by reinvigorating a large “strategic reserve” force of thousands of veterans who could be required to serve again in a national crisis.

In a wide-ranging interview, the outgoing MP for Wells in Somerset repeated a call for an immediate increase in defence spending to close gaps in capability – such as being able to defend UK airspace from missiles – and eventually to regrow the size of the military.

“There’s really two things that I have set myself to achieve in my remaining time as an MP, given the knowledge that I have as a long-serving minister in the MoD [Ministry of Defence],” Mr Heappey, 43, said in the interview at his home.

“Firstly, to make the case for more defence spending: 2.5% [of national income, up from just over 2%] now. Three per cent by 2030.

“And secondly, that we reinvest and refocus in our strategic resilience as a nation and our capacity to war fight and withstand any other type of crisis that might come our way.”

The comments came after Sky News revealed last week that the government has no national plan for the defence of the UK or the mobilisation of its people and industry in a war.

Officials have started to develop a cross-government “national defence plan”, but any shift back to a Cold War-style, ready-for-war footing would require political leaders to make defence a genuinely national effort once again.

Mr Heappey, who stepped down as armed forces minister last month after four and a half years in the job, underlined the critical importance to British and wider European security of supporting Ukraine in its war against Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

He urged the UK and its allies to go even further with the types of weapons they are willing to give Kyiv as the Ukrainian military struggles to withstand renewed Russian attacks.

“I think we’ve got to shake the tree again right now for what more we could give from our current inventories. What is the next capability threshold that we could go to beyond Storm Shadow [cruise missiles]?”

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