THE head of Britain’s army was accused of “alarmism” today after he warned of dreamed-up military threats from Russia.

General Sir Nick Carter claimed that Russia was “building an increasingly aggressive and expeditionary force” that Britain would already struggle to match.

He said Russia had carried out “simulated attacks” in northern Europe last year, and that the “long-range strike capability” of its armed forces had been demonstrated in Syria.

Gen Carter provided precisely zero reasons why Britain should be concerned about a Russian attack.

“The time to address these threats is now. We cannot afford to sit back,” he shrieked.

Stop the War co-convener Lindsey German dismissed the militaristic hyperbole.

“The alarmism over the supposed Russian threat is going off the scale,” she said.

“The military privately acknowledge that there is little to no chance of a Russian invasion of the Baltic states, yet Gen Carter conjures up this fear in order to demand much greater military spending and a new strategic defence review.

“In fact, Russia’s arms spending is far less than that of the US, let alone Nato. It is intervening in Syria — something which I oppose — but so is Britain, the US, and Turkey, to name only three Nato members.

“In this increasingly dangerous and unstable world, the arms bidding war is already turning into a new cold war, with grim consequences for the ordinary people of those countries affected.

“Coming as it does days after US Defence Secretary James Mattis argued for a strategic military turn from counterterrorism to inter-imperial rivalry — Russia and China being the countries most obviously referred to — this marks a reckless ratcheting-up of the military agenda, which will lead to war, not peace.”