Former UK service personnel could be recalled to duty up to the age of 65 under legislation being introduced through the Armed Forces Bill, with the threshold for recall also being lowered.
The measures are set out in the Defence Investment Plan, published this week, which confirms that the Bill will strengthen what the Ministry of Defence terms the Strategic Reserve, comprising former service personnel who retain an Ex Regular and Recall Reserve liability.
The key changes, the plan states, include “increasing the recall liability for personnel up to the age of 65 and lowering the threshold for recall so that Reservists can be recalled for ‘warlike preparations’ in addition to the current requirement for ‘national danger, great emergency, or attack on the UK’.”
“This will allow us to mobilise talent rapidly when it matters most, strengthening our readiness and bolstering our resilience,” the document adds, confirming that a separate Defence Readiness Bill is planned later this Parliament to go further.
The plan is direct about the value it places on part-time personnel, stating: “The diversity of knowledge, skills, experience, and behaviours that Reserves bring from their outside jobs are an invaluable strength.” It commits to investing in new methods and technology for engagement with the Strategic Reserve, expanding access to specialist skills while protecting time, funding and equipment for reserves in training.
On the state of the regular force, the plan states: “This Government is renewing the contract with those who serve. For the first time since 2021, UK Regular Forces numbers are now growing.” Intake has exceeded outflow for the Royal Navy and Royal Marines since January 2025, for the RAF since October 2025, and for the Army since April 2026, with Army intake outstripping outflow by 980 personnel in the twelve months to 31 March 2026. Longer-term plans include increasing the Army’s regular component to 76,000 personnel in the 2030 to 2035 period.
The plan concedes that the Strategic Defence Review’s recommendation to increase cadet numbers by 30 per cent will not be achieved by 2030, with the target now pushed back to 2035. “This difficult decision has enabled Defence to increase the rate of transformation of the Armed Forces,” the document states.
Sensible thinking and there is a lot of ex-service experience out there and by God we will need it.
Will you be recalling the pilots and ground crews of the Wildcat force you’re shortly to make redundant?
Or the SF personnel and others you want to hound through the courts?
Scum….
Those who make this legislation should go and serve themselves before asking the old and bold to go and do it again.
At least we’re better than the yanks and captain bonespurs
all we know for sure is that the warmongers won’t be the ones who fight, they never are, why any young males would join up to fight for a country where they’re second class citizens is beyond me
If that idiot Charles can break his oath then i,m breaking mine the answer is go and get with an off simple as that, i won,t be defending an upcoming Islamic state
So you want Muslims to defend you🤪🤣??
Im just wondering what role I’ll be fulfilling 😁
Tricky old business this one. I was proud to serve, but would i want to serve again when the people in charge are destroying the country through demographic change? The answer is a no im afraid. They’ll have to get the new voters they have been importing to serve. We all no of course how that would go.
Amazes me that the Government are going to increase the recall age to 65, when they have allowed in over the last few years hundreds of thousands of fighting age men…. How about making them serve 20 years in the armed forces and then offering them indefinite leave to stay…
None of those people are going to serve, we have over 10 million people imported over the last few decades that have no affinity to Britain whatsoever. They are just here for the gibs.
The Prostate Fusiliers 🙄
HMG can politely Foxtrot Oscar
I did my bit and was proud of it. I took the oath to Queen Liz. Personally I would not be taking that oath to Charlie boy.
If you swore the Oath of Allegiance you took the Oath to Liz, and her heirs and successors, which means you took it to Charlie too.
The reality is, many people in their 50s+ simply wouldn’t be considered fit to serve Dern.
I suspect they will very much cherry pick in the event of mobilisation, as it does give the MoD the ability to recall career served senior NCO’s to service, who ( as they did in both wars) provide the core of the rapidly expanded training system in times of war..
They are very much a force multiplier in its most basic sense, turning civilians into soldiers.
That and provide the core ‘management’ of a newly constructed Home guard, if deemed required in times of war to support the police etc.
After all, officers face a lifetime recall already, so if you can provide retired officers and NCOs, you can build a unit around them, just provide the kit and infill with volunteers or/ and conscription.
Don’t panic captain Mainwaring!
It all sounds a bit “dad’s army” to me. I’m 57 and my eyesight is going as fast as my reaction time is slowing. Not sure I would be much use against a drone or hyper speed missile but I will get my trusty old Enfield rifle out and give it a polish. Can’t let anyone attack our island that we just give away free to any inflatable boat jockey.
I’d probably fit the “Liability” criteria bit 😁
The Kings own Liability Rifles for you then Halfwit…
I was in the air cadets as a teenager, so if you want any precision marching around school tennis courts done, I’m your man.
Having pored over the DIP, I sadly noticed that marching around tennis courts was yet another area cut, no doubt replaced by AI.
That said, with so many plus sized teens these days, perhaps they roll them around.🤔🤔
Looks like Labour will be creating “One Foot in the Grave Army”🤣🤣🤣
76k regular troops wouldn’t be enough to defend the Isle of White let alone even Scotland and certainly forget the UK. At one time we had 180k regular troops out of a total of over 400k with 1200MBT, over 50 large surface warships, almost 800 combat aircraft, 4000 artillery and 15000 armoured vehicles with sufficient ammo to sustain 6months of front line combat that was during the Falklands war – we are in a seriously worse situation than in 1939 at least then we could count on the worlds largest all volunteer army of 5million from the British Indian Armed Forces plus 700000 from other commonwealth regions to the 450000 UK based forces now we have to rely on “Grandads Army” 🤪😂😂 according to Labour.