The head of the British Army warned regular armies "start wars, citizen armies win them" (Image: Getty)

       Downing Street has slapped down the head of the British Army over warnings civilians will be needed to fight Russia.

       General Sir Patrick Sanders, warned that while “regular armies start wars, citizen armies win them”.

       He said the people of the UK are part of a “pre-war generation”, adding that they must be trained and equipped in case they are needed to fight.

       General Sanders is concerned the British Army has been cut too far, warning the number of troops has shrunk by 28 per cent over the past 12 years.

       But Number 10 ruled out any move towards a conscription model, saying that Army service would remain “voluntary”.

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       British troops training in Jordan (Image: Press Association)

       Asked about whether Rishi Sunak could rule out conscription in future circumstances, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “There is no suggestion of that. The Government has no intention to follow through with that.

       “The British military has a proud tradition of being a voluntary force. There are no plans to change that.”

       Sir Patrick, speaking at the International Armoured Vehicles conference, said: “We will not be immune and as the pre-war generation we must similarly prepare – and that is a whole-of-nation undertaking. Ukraine brutally illustrates that regular armies start wars; citizen armies win them.

       “Within the next three years, it must be credible to talk of a British Army of 120,000, folding in our reserve and strategic reserve. But that’s not enough.”

       Sir Patrick added: “Our friends in eastern and Northern Europe, who feel the proximity of the Russian threat more acutely, are already acting prudently laying the foundations for national mobilisation.”

       Sir Patrick acknowledged that while the Army was at “increased readiness”, this was not enough.

       “We need an Army designed to expand rapidly to enable the first echelon, resource the second echelon and train and equipped for a citizen army that must follow,” he said.

       The size of the British Army has shrunk in recent years (Image: Getty)

       Sir Patrick, who is due to retire from the Army and has been a vocal critic of the dwindling size of Britain's Armed Forces, compared the current political climate to the period just before the First World War.

       The Army chief, who would not support conscription, said: “Our predecessors of course failed to perceive the implications of the so-called July crisis in 1914, and stumbled into the most ghastly of wars.

       “We can’t afford to make the same mistake today. Ukraine really matters.”

       He said Ukraine was “the principal pressure point on a fragile world order that our enemies wish to dismantle”.

       Sir Patrick added: “This war is not merely about the black soil of the Donbas, nor the re-establishment of a Russian Empire. It’s about defeating our system and our way of life, politically, psychologically and symbolically.

       “How we respond as that pre-war generation will reverberate through history. Ukrainian bravery and resilience are buying us time for now. So Ukraine really matters. I can’t overstate it.”

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       Chief of the General Staff, Sir General Patrick Sanders (Image: Getty)

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       But the head of the British Army revealed applications to join were at their highest in six years and that the nation’s youth were “ready to serve, to seek adventure, to find where they belong”.

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       But he warned the failure to modernise British forces were hitting chiefs’ ability to bolster their ranks.

       Sir Patrick warned ministers: “Its absence is felt in our recruitment numbers.

       “The army’s size always generates headlines but the real story is about capability and modernisation.”