Britain unlikely to go to war on its own again, Defence Secretary says
Ben Farmer, defence correspondent 21 APRIL 2016 • 4:52PM


UK Defence Secretary Michael Fallon with French Defence Secretary Jean Yves Le Drian at a joint military exercise between English and French forces


Britain is unlikely to go to war on its own again, the Defence Secretary has said as he visited the biggest ever Anglo-French military training exercise.

Michael Fallon said Britain should forge closer links with European armies and navies in the future and said a UK exit from the European Union would only be welcomed by Islamic State terrorists and the Kremlin.

The UK’s allies are "extremely alarmed" that the country may vote to leave the EU in June and claimed the country would be less secure outside.

The Defence Secretary spoke as his French counterpart joined the Brexit debate, urging Britain to stay because "we are stronger together".

Mr Fallon said: "Not one defence minister around the world thinks we’d be safer or more secure outside the European Union."

He said: "Leaving the European Union would only I think be welcomed in either Moscow or by Daesh [Islamic State] in Raqqa."

Cooperation in EU-led military search and rescue missions to combat the migrant crisis, or joint naval patrols to tackle Somali pirates would be at risk if Britain walked out of the union, he said as he visited the largest ever Anglo-French military training exercise.

More than 5,000 soldiers, sailors and airmen from both sides of the Channel have spent a fortnight preparing a new Anglo-French expeditionary force that could be flown to crisis spots at short notice.


Defence secretary Michael Fallon meets some of the soldiers

The Joint Expeditionary Force follows the 2010 Lancaster House agreement where Britain and France pledged closer defence ties.

Cross-channel cooperation would be at risk if Britain left the EU at the June 23 referendum, Mr Fallon claimed.

He said: "I don’t know any of our allies who would like Britain to leave the European Union or who are anything other than extremely alarmed at the prospect that we might do.

"We work closely with France, but that partnership rests on our membership not just of Nato, but also our membership of the European Union.

"There are international operations now where we work together in the European context as well as with Nato. It would be more difficult to do that outside the European Union."

He also said Britain's future conflicts were likely to be fought as part of a coalition, as in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Asked if Britain would ever fight alone again, he said: "It's very hard to see the circumstances in which Britain would go into conflict again. The Falklands, I think, were very much an exception."

Mr Fallon predicted closer ties among European armies and navies.

"Britain and France are the biggest, we have the biggest and most capable armed forces in Europe and we are natural partners working alongside each other."

But he ruled out joining an EU Army.

"We’ve made it very clear, we’re not going to join a European army. What we do do, is we work more and more closely with our allies."

Jean-Yves le Drian, the French defence minister also visiting the Exercise Griffin Strike on Salisbury Plain, said he would "rather maintain" Britain’s place in the EU.

He said: "We are stronger together. In a world where instability and threats are everywhere, closeness and cooperation is absolutely essential."

He went on: "I know the effect of Britain within the European Union. Partnership is absolutely essential and the fact that Britain is in the European Union makes us all stronger.

"I know the effect of our closeness of cooperation, both for the respect that this entails for our adversaries and the rest of the world... and for the strength that this represents for our security.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016...nce-secretary/

Military leaders to warn against a Brexit
Exclusive: Downing Street is organising a letter from military leaders warning voters not to leave the EU at a time of Russian aggression and rising Islamic extremism


Defence Secretary Michael Fallon in conversation with the Sunday Telegraph

More than a dozen of the country's most senior military leaders will argue that Britain should vote to stay in the European Union because of its importance to national security.

The Daily Telegraph understands that Downing Street is organising a letter stating the importance of the EU to Britain's national security to combat the growing threat of Isil and increasing Russian aggression.

Those likely to sign the letter include Admiral Lord Boyce, General Lord Stirrup and Field Marshal Lord Bramall, three former Chiefs of the Defence Staff, and General Sir Peter Wall, a former Chief of General Staff.

However several other former military chiefs are struggling to reach a decision because they are weighing their concerns about national security against their instinctive Euroscepticism.

The letter is likely to be published this week and comes as both David Cameron and Michael Fallon put Britain's national security at the heart of their arguments for remaining in the European Union.

However it is likely to lead to accusations from eurosceptic campaigners that the Prime Minister is resorting to "Project Fear" to make the case for staying in the European Union.

On Tuesday a letter signed by around 50 FTSE 100 bosses will be published backing Britain's membership of the European Union.
The letter says: "Businesses like ours need unrestricted access to the European market of 500 million people in order to continue to grow, invest and create jobs.

"We believe leaving the EU would deter investment and threaten jobs, it would put the economy at risk. Britain will be stronger, safer and better off by remaining a member of the European Union."

General Sir Mike Jackson, a former head of the army, is among those who are undecided about whether to sign the letter.
He said: "Yes there is a security dimension to the EU but in my mind it is more of a policing and judicial matter rather than a military matter. The military dimension is provided by Nato."

Lord Stirrup told The Daily Telegraph: "I don't carry a torch for the European Union at all but one has to look at the realistic alternative not just the World as we wish it to be. In light of the current threats like Isil, Russia and other threats that might emerge you have to think about how we secure our society."

Lord Bramall said: "I have always felt that a strong Europe in political terms is infinitely stronger if it has Britain inside it."If Britain left it would be a much weaker Europe and therefore it would affect the whole balance of power and equilibrium in the Western World.

"That affects not just security, but the political side. The negotiations. It is important to have a match for the various power blocs - China, Russia - it's complementary to Nato. I am sure America would very much want us to be in."

Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, said in an article for The Sunday Telegraph that Vladimir Putin, the Russian President, wants Britain to leave the European Union.

He said: "It is not scaremongering to ask which result Putin would favour. If we left, the European Union for the first time in its history would be smaller and weaker. That's obviously in Russia's interests."

The challenges of Russian aggression and international terrorism are global and transnational and Britain "cannot afford" to be alone, he said.
Mr Cameron said before securing his EU deal: "In a world where Russia is invading Ukraine and a rogue nation like North Korea is testing nuclear weapons, we need to stand up to this aggression together - and bring our economic might to bear on those who rip up the rulebook and threaten the safety of our people.

“And in a world where people look at the threat of extremism and blame poverty or the foreign policy of the West, we need to say: no, it’s about an ideology that is hijacking Islam for its own barbaric purposes and poisoning the minds of our young people.

“And just as Europe has faced down dangerous and murderous ideologies in the past. So again we must stand together in this, the struggle of our generation.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...-a-Brexit.html