article_snippet: Crippling cuts to defence spending have left Britain unable to defend Britain or stand up to Russia, according to the former head of the Army.
article_snippet: A defence think tank has warned that up to 30,000 members of the forces face redundancy over the next parliament.
article_snippet: The 2013-14 defence budget was £34.3billion, down from £35.9billion in 2010-11, when the coalition took over.
article_snippet: It comes after a report by the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) said a report by the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) was inevitable that Britain's defence spending would drop below the Nato target in the face of continuing austerity cuts.
article_snippet: Up to 30,000 service personnel could go - with the Army likely to bear the heaviest cuts - leaving the armed forces with a combined strength of just 115,000 by the end of the decade, the Army predicted.
highlights_snippet: Joins chorus of criticism of the impact of spending cuts on the military .
  