Royal Navy admiral warns of 'dangerous' politics plaguing UK's chief of defence job
‘DANGEROUS’ political appointments to Britain’s top military position are preventing the best commanders from leading the nation’s armed forces, a former navy boss has warned.
Admiral Lord Alan West accused previous prime ministers of picking who was the ‘best fit politically’ for the role of chief of defence staff instead of who was ‘best for the job’.
The former First Sea Lord’s comments come as Boris Johnson deliberates over who will take over as the nation’s next military chief, replacing General Sir Nick Carter in June.
Senior defence sources have called for the Royal Navy’s current commander, First Sea Lord Admiral Tony Radakin, to be appointed to counter resurgent threats at sea from the likes of Russia and China.
He would be the first naval officer to take on the chief of defence staff role in 20 years since Admiral Sir Michael Boyce held the post in 2001.
Speaking to The News, Labour peer Lord West said: ‘It’s an insult to say it’s always the best man who will get the job – it’s not the best man, it stopped being the best man a long time ago.
‘It’s the one who politically will fit best. That is something I think is dangerous for the military and dangerous for the government because they won’t necessarily get pure military advice.’
Lord West said Russia and China were increasingly ‘flexing their muscles’ at sea, with Moscow deploying more submarines off the UK’s west coast than ‘since the Cold War’.
‘Both navies have created a much bigger threat on the oceans of the world,’ he added.
Adm Radakin was backed as the nation’s next top commander by Lord West, who said he could play a key role in helping the nation drive forward its future maritime strategy.
It would come as the Royal Navy deployed its new carrier strike group, led by its £3.2bn flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth in May.
The 65,000-tonne aircraft carrier would set sail from Portsmouth heading towards the Pacific, where it’s anticipated she would operate around the contested South China Sea.
‘As we’re going for a maritime strategy, which is what the prime minister has said we’re doing, doesn’t it make sense to have someone who’s imbued and soaked in that maritime to be chief of defence staff while that’s happening,’ Lord West added.
‘Radakin is a bloody good bloke anyway – they all are. Anyone who is head of their service will be good. But it just seems to me to be a great opportunity to kick off Britain’s maritime strategy with a chief of defence staff behind it.’
In recent years the role of chief of defence staff has been dominated by army generals, with four having held the post since 2003 alongside two air chief marshals from the RAF.
However, a senior source within the British Army insisted the best man was always picked for the role – regardless of which service they head up.
‘You have to rise above your environmental and service expertise because you have to be there for the whole of defence,’ the source told the Daily Telegraph.