Britain could ‘cripple’ Spain if war broke out over Gibraltar claims ex-Royal Navy commander

Though Britain's Royal Navy is substantially weaker than it was during the Falklands War but could still "cripple" Spain, said a former British Royal Navy commander who warned that Britain could “cripple” Spain in a war over Gibraltar, as tensions build between the two countries over the future of The Rock following Brexit.

Rear-Adml Chris Parry, a former director of operational capability at the Ministry of Defence, said: 

“We could cripple Spain in the medium term and I think the Americans would probably support us too.

“In terms of military capability we would vastly outnumber them and our capacity to do them harm is far greater.

“We are significantly more powerful than them, if it came to it we are probably three times more powerful than they are.”

Rear-Adml Parry was speaking to The Telegraph when he said he didn’t expect tensions to boil over into military action, but called on the Government to invest in the Armed Forces if it plans to “talk big” over the British territory.

Parry's remarks comes after former Tory leader Lord Howard suggested that Theresa May could go to war with Spain over the sovereignty of the British territory Gibraltar, just as Margaret Thatcher did with the Falklands, report The Sun.

Rear-Adml Parry said that he did not believe current tensions would lead to military conflict report the The Telegraph.

"If the Government wants to talk big over Gibraltar, or indeed anywhere else, they have to invest appropriately in the military capacity to back that up, he said.

"We are a lot less powerful than we were during the Falklands and we are less sustainable over time. Our capacity for actually enforcing our national will in military terms is significantly less.

"Our war fighting assets are weak after years of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq and because of the disingenuous way in which the Government has resourced defence.

He however insisted that Britain's military capability "significantly" over-matches Spain's and that if it came to a war, the UK is - qualitatively - three times more powerful.  Our capacity to do them harm is far greater.

"We could cripple Spain in the medium term and I think the Americans would probably support us too. Spain should learn from history that it is never worth taking us on and that we could still singe the King of Spain’s beard,” he added.

Lord Howard however compared the squabble over the future of the Spanish tip to Margaret Thatcher’s Falklands war – as the Prime Minister offered reassurance to the people on The Rock that the UK was committed to them.

Lord Howard said the Prime Minister will stand by Gibraltar no matter what, during Brexit talks amid claims of an EU “land grab” for the territory – after EU guidelines this week issued Spain an effective veto over applying a Brexit deal to the area.

 
Speaking to Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday, Lord Howard said;

“Thirty-five years ago this week another woman Prime Minister sent a task force half way across the world to defend the freedom of another small group of British people against another Spanish-speaking country.

“I am absolutely certain our current Prime Minister will show the same resolve in standing by the people of Gibraltar.”

The Sun/The Telegraph