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Britain has to ‘think carefully’ about conscripting hundreds of thousands of Brits to fight Russia, a former top British Army officer has warned.

General Richard Shirreff, a former Nato commander, warned that the UK might need to introduce a system akin to that used in Finland in the event of a European land war.

It came after the head of the British Army warned in a speech yesterday that a ‘citizen army’ will be needed for any direct confrontation with Vladimir Putin.

Not three weeks of 2024 have passed, and the governments of Estonia, Sweden and now the UK have already warned their respective nations that the prospect of large-scale war is on the horizon. 

Although he stopped short of backing conscription, general Sir Patrick Sanders said preparing for war against Russia should be a ‘whole-of-nation’ undertaking, including what he described as ‘national mobilisation’.

However Sir Richard, the Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe from 2011 to 2014, suggested that conscription might well be required, because a large enough volunteer force would ‘need a huge amount of effort and money which is probably not there.’

‘I think Gen Sanders is absolutely right to be talking about a citizen volunteer army. I think now, against all the odds though, is the time to start thinking the unthinkable and really having to think quite carefully about conscription if we are to deliver the numbers needed,’ he told Sky News.

But at the same time Whitehall is believed to be looking at ways of training large amounts of volunteers quickly, based on work done with Ukrainian troops. 

British forces have trained some 30,000 Ukrainians, including civilians, on UK soil under Operation Interflex, the multinational support mission backing the country as it continues to push back against the two-year-long Russian invasion.

But what do these options mean for the average Brit? Here we try to answer some of the basic questions about what the start of World War III might look like. 

Click here to read the full article on Daily Mail Online.

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Featured image is a screenshot from Sky News via Daily Mail Online