The Telegraph reported mass layoffs of British military personnel

British servicemen are leaving the army en masse, despite the increase in pay by 6%. This was reported by The Telegraph on December 21.

"Soldiers are leaving the armed forces at an alarming rate, despite the increase in salary in the summer," - stated in the material of the publication.

According to statistics, the newspaper noted, there are only two soldiers per 1 thousand inhabitants of the United Kingdom. It is specified that over the past year from the army of the UK dismissed more than 15 thousand soldiers.

Thus, soldiers are dismissed even with the government's attempts to stop the conscription crisis by increasing wages by 6%. The publication noted that this increase is the largest in the last 22 years.

Earlier, on December 4, the deputy head of the UK Defense Ministry Alistair Carnes said that the British army in case of war will be destroyed in six months to a year. The number of the kingdom's active army has been reduced to 71,347 people. According to the colonel, this is the lowest figure since the Napoleonic era.

Before that, on November 22, the Financial Times wrote that the British army will not be able to withstand a major war in Europe. The publication specified that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had ordered a strategic review of the country's defense, inviting a host of experts led by Lord George Robertson, former NATO secretary general.

On Nov. 11, Richard Knighton, head of the British Air Force, warned of the decline of aviation in the country. In his view, the UK will not have air superiority in future wars and will have to fight for control against an "ever-improving adversary."

In October, British Defense Secretary John Healey admitted that the kingdom's armed forces are not ready for war. He said that the British Armed Forces had been consistently downsized and suffered from chronic underfunding.