Philip Hammond brands SAS hero ‘bonkers fantasist’ over claims Brussels wants EU army

FOREIGN secretary Phillip Hammond has blasted a former SAS commander for suggesting Brussels bureaucrats want to form an EU army — describing the claim as "fantasy".

In a sharply worded criticism of British war hero General Sir Michael Rose, Mr Hammond branded the idea of a pan-European defence force "bonkers", saying: "What language would it speak? How would it operate?

"The armies of Europe are vastly different. The idea of creating a single army simply doesn't work."

In an interview this lunchtime, he added: "Retired generals have a range of different views, but on this he is simply wrong. We have a veto over a European army. If any such thing were ever proposed, we would use that veto.

"There will never be a European army in an EU of which Britain is a member, I can promise you that. We have made that pledge before."

But the Leave campaign have repeatedly warned that the ultimate aim of the Brussels-based institution is to form a Nato-style military alliance formed from the national armies of the 28 member states.

Sir Michael said: "I have been told that Germany has already written a paper on behalf of Brussels proposing the formation of a single European army and that this paper is being held back until after the referendum. True or false, I do not know.

"What I do know is that the remorseless logic of a single state ultimately means that the British Army will be no more and our military barracks will be filled with soldiers from the European army and that when you have parades, such as the Queen's birthday parade which I recently observed, they will be carried out by soldiers dressed in the drab olive of the European army not the splendid bearskins and tunics of the Household Division."

Former defence chief Lord Guthrie defected to the Leave camp last week over fears of a European army.

He said such a force would be "expensive" and "unnecessary" and would merely "appeal to some Euro vanity thing".

He said: "There's a feeling that those backing the European army are doing it for political reasons rather than military ones. They want to be able to boast, 'Look! We've got a European army'. That is dangerous."

But David Cameron has emphatically denied there is any realistic prospect of an EU army, describing the suggestion simply as "not true".