British army under French orders

FRENCH military chiefs are to take command of British troops, including the elite SAS, in an unprecedented defence pact to be unveiled today.

French military chiefs are to take command of British troops French military chiefs are to take command of British troops

Troops from both sides of the English Channel are to serve side by side in a “combined joint expeditionary force” from next year.

Under the cost-cutting initiative set to provoke fury among veterans and supporters of the Armed Forces, Britain and France will also share aircraft carriers, transport planes and nuclear secrets.

And in a further move that raises serious concerns about Britain’s military independence, the French Government effectively will get a power of veto over any future expedition to defend the Falkland Islands.

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David Cameron is to agree the hugely controversial deal with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in an Anglo-French summit at Lancaster House in London today.

But last night critics branded the plan a betrayal of British military tradition going back centuries to the battles of Waterloo, Trafalgar, Agincourt and Crecy.

Commander John Muxworthy, of the UK National Defence Association, said: “The Government is trying to run the Armed Forces on the cheap. That is no way to run a country’s defence. In World War Two we were supposed to be standing side by side with the French and then look what happened.”

Tory MP Patrick Mercer said: “I can’t help but remember that during the Falklands War certain French arms manufacturers were less than helpful in our efforts to retake the islands.”

Moves to share resources with France were signalled in the coalition Government’s Strategic Defence and Security Review last month. But Whitehall sources last night indicated that co-operation will go far further than previously expected.

Measures include a pool of armed forces that will train together and could be deployed in conflict zones.

Personnel from the Parachute Regiment and the Royal Marines will be involved and Whitehall sources confirmed that the Special Air Service and Special Boat Service are likely to feature. Training will begin next year.

The two nations will have to put a single commander from one country in command, meaning British troops getting orders from French generals.

The British and French navies are to “co-ordinate” use of their aircraft carriers. But the decision to scrap the Ark Royal, combined with frequent maintenance work on the Charles de Gaulle, mean that the two countries will effectively have just one carrier between them. It means that if the Falkland Islands are threatened when Britain does not have an aircraft carrier available, the French Government will have the ultimate decision about whether to launch a task force.

There will also be more co-operation on nuclear weapons with French scientists based at the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston in Berkshire and British scientists at a nuclear research facility in France.

Britain will also share military aircraft including the A400M transport plane. Another joint approach involves countering terrorism and cyber threats. Defence chiefs insist the agreement represents “a new phase of practical co-operation” rather than a surrender of sovereignty.

The initiative is designed to max­imise defence capabilities by pooling equipment and achieve far greater “value for money”.

In the Commons yesterday Mr Cameron defended his decision for greater co-operation. “I don’t seriously believe this link up with the French is going to lead to European armies,” he said.

The head of the UK’s Armed Forces welcomed the move. Chief of the Defence Staff General Sir David Richards said: “We’ve been working very closely with the French ever since the First World War, but particularly in Nato.

“We lost some of that in the 1990s and the last 10 years or so, so we are almost going back to the very close co-operation we had in the Cold War.”

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