Military chief switches sides to back Brexit against EU ‘army’
Field Marshal Lord Guthrie says he was wrong to back Remain and now believes leaving would be 'better' for British defence
ONE of Britain’s top military chiefs has switched sides in the referendum campaign and is now backing Leave.
Lord Guthrie says he has made the decision because he believes Brexit would be “better” for British defence.
The announcement will cause particular embarrassment for the Remain campaign as earlier this year Lord Guthrie signed a letter to Downing Street calling for Britain to remain in the EU.
But Field Marshal Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank told the Daily Telegraph he “made a mistake” by signing the Remain letter.
And he voiced concerns about Brussels’ desire for a European army.
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Lord Guthrie revealed he signed the letter that No10 had drafted out of a feeling of comradeship.
He said: “I regret doing that. I think I made a mistake. Now I’ve thought about it some more.
“I think a European army could damage Nato. It is expensive.
“It’s unnecessary duplication to have it. It would appeal to some Euro-vanity thing.”
Lord Guthrie was the Chief of Defence Staff from 1997 to 2001.
In that role he also attended meetings in Brussels that sought to give an EU dimension to the new defence situation.
He served in Aden, the Persian Gulf, Malaysia, East Africa, Germany and Northern Ireland.
He was the second most senior military figure to sign the letter calling for Britain to Remain so that it could protect itself from the “grave security threats” of IS and Russia.
Last night he branded the creation of a European army as “dangerous” and said it would lead to the British Armed Forces becoming “damaged”.
He said: “Then they can actually do less, and the equipment programmes and the size of the forces suffer.”