The Defence Secretary has said the UK’s armed forces are not “ready to fight” a war and need to be “more effective” in deterring future aggression against Nato.

John Healey told Politico that the UK had become “very skilled and ready to conduct military operations”, but needed to be “ready to fight” in order to deter other nations.

He added that ministers found the state of the armed forces was “far worse than we thought” after Labour entered Government in July.

When asked about comments by the head of the Army, General Sir Roly Walker, that the UK must be ready to fight a war in three years, Mr Healey said: “The UK, in keeping with many other nations, has essentially become very skilled and ready to conduct military operations.

“What we’ve not been ready to do is to fight. And unless we are ready to fight, we are not in a shape to deter.”

He added that this was “at the heart” of thinking within Nato.

The Defence Secretary told Politico’s Power Play podcast: “We’ve got to not just be capable of defending our Nato nations, but more importantly, got to be more effective in the deterrence that we can provide against any future aggression.

“Our forces need to be able to innovate. We need to be able to take the new technologies and some of the lessons from Ukraine and make what we do more lethal and therefore a stronger deterrence.”

Mr Healey said former defence secretary Ben Wallace told him in the House of Commons last year that Conservative governments had “hollowed out and underfunded the armed forces” over their 14 years in office.

Ben Wallace at Bovington Camp
Former defence secretary Ben Wallace during a visit to a British Army military base in Dorset in 2023 (Ben Birchall/PA)

A Government spokesperson said: “This government will always do what’s required to defend the country. The UK’s armed forces are amongst the best in the world and offer a 24/7 defence of the UK – operating alongside our Allies and partners to prepare for any event.

“The Strategic Defence Review will look at the threats we face and the capabilities we need so that our armed forces are better ready to fight, more integrated and more innovative.”

On Wednesday, the UK and Germany signed a defence pact with the aim of closer cooperation in the face of a growing threat from Russia.

Under the agreement, German submarine-hunting planes will operate from RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland and arms giant Rheinmetall is set to open a factory producing artillery gun barrels using British steel.

Mr Healey said on Wednesday that European nations needed to take “more responsibility for the heavy lifting and the leadership within the Nato alliance”.