The potential deployment of a British aircraft carrier may require an escort by French warships. The crew on board HMS Prince of Wales have been given five days’ notice to move as tensions continue to rise in the Middle East.

However, the dire state of the Royal Navy, with several key frigates and destroyers undergoing maintenance, means that the UK might struggle to provide a protection group to the aircraft carrier should it be destroyed. Typically, a carrier escort group includes two to three destroyers or frigates and an attack submarine. The Royal Navy has six destroyers, but only HMS Dragon is believed to be ready for operations and is expected to deploy to the eastern Mediterranean following an Iranian-backed attack on RAF Akrotiri. Of the Navy’s seven frigates, only HMS Somerset and HMS St Albans are thought to be available for tasking.

The remainder are either in maintenance or dealing with technical defects.

James Cartlidge, the shadow defence secretary, told the Telegraph: “Labour’s talk of putting a carrier on greater readiness is a distraction from the real question: why didn’t Starmer plan properly and move naval assets weeks ago, when a major US operation was clearly coming?

“The truth is Labour have prioritised welfare over defence, leaving an under-funded Ministry of Defence forced to make £2.6bn in cuts this year.

“That’s why there are no Royal Navy warships in the Middle East and why even if a carrier were deployed, there would be serious questions about escort ships.”

Protection to HMS Prince of Wales could in part be provided by HMS Duncan but it is likely that it would be reliant on aid from warships provided by France and other European allies.

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Last week, western officials told the Daily Express that HMS Duncan had not been deployed to the Mediterranean sooner due to the need to protect the high north, highlighting the competing priorities for defence officials.

The inability to counter all the threats facing the nation has led to increased calls to spend more on defence.

Last week’s Spring Budget included few details on vague government plans to increase defence spending, with more attention paid to the country’s ballooning welfare bill.

Currently, welfare is on course to rocket by £18billion in a single year – enough to fund 15 advanced Royal Navy frigates, 220 fighter jets or 250,000 soldiers, according to a new analysis by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ).

Lord Dannatt, the former head of the British Army, warned: “The explosion in the welfare budget at the expense of investing properly in our defence risks the very existence of our country.”