Britain’s army chief fears war may come sooner than anyone thinks

THE HALL OF Church House, nestled next to Westminster Abbey, is full of pious exhortations to peace and love. On July 22nd-23rd it was filled with military officers debating how to kill people more efficiently. General Sir Roly Walker, who became chief of the general staff in June, was one of those addressing the army’s annual land-warfare conference, run by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a think-tank. In his speech he set out his aim “to double our fighting power in three years and triple it by the end of the decade”.

In the past that might have been seen as a cynical ploy to pitch for more money and troops. Unusually, General Walker said he was not asking for either. Instead his plan reflects a fear that war might come sooner than anyone thinks. General Walker sees 2027-28 as a moment in which Russian rearmament, China’s threat to Taiwan and Iran’s nuclear ambitions might come together in a “singularity”. (Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the chief of the defence staff and General Walker’s boss, is more relaxed: he argues that Russia would need five years to rebuild its army to the pre-2022 standard, and another five to fix deeper problems.)