Britain’s Armed Forces are not ready to fight a war, Defence Secretary John Healey has sensationally admitted. Mr Healey said the British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force have “become very skilled and ready to conduct military operations”. But they have become too depleted to fight a war, the Defence Secretary conceded.

The Armed Forces are not ready to fight a war, the Defence Secretary has admitted. John Healey said the military had been “hollowed out” and “underfunded” under the last government to such an extent that it would not be able to deter the enemy if war broke out today.

John Healey said that the problems facing the Army, Navy and Air Force were 'far worse with far deeper problems than we thought' before Labour took power in the summer.