Ex-armymen oppose Brexit

Thirteen former senior military officers insisted Britain should stay in the European Union on Wednesday, saying the country was “stronger” as a member of the 28-nation bloc in a “dangerous world”.

Writing ahead of a membership referendum on June 23, the retired military chiefs said the EU helped protect the country against threats from Islamic State (IS) jihadists and Russia. The signatories of the letter to the Daily Telegraph newspaper include four former professional heads of the overall armed forces as well as two former heads of the army and two of the navy.

“Will Britain be safer inside the EU or outside it? When we look at the world today, there seems to us only one answer,” the letter said. “Within the EU, we are stronger.” 

The letter added that, while NATO was the most important alliance for national security, the EU was “increasingly important”.