Defence Secretary John Healey was “wrong” to say Britain is not ready to fight a war, the Conservatives have warned.

James Cartlidge warned fellow MPs the threat of “existential war” is “looming larger over our continent than it has done for many years”, during Monday’s Remembrance debate in the House of Commons.

Mr Healey had said his Government “is committed to renewing the nation’s contract with those who serve”.

Mr Cartlidge said: “I believe that for politicians, we best honour the fallen by never forgetting the lessons of the wars in which they fought. That means never being complacent about the threats we face and doing everything possible to strengthen our deterrence so that this country is never again embroiled in the senseless slaughter of existential war.

“But it must be obvious to all of us that the threat of such a war is looming larger over our continent than it has done for many years.

“To that end, and I say this with respect for (Mr Healey), when deterrence is of paramount importance… in my view it was profoundly ill-judged of him to suggest that Britain is not ready to fight a war.

“Let me reassure the British public, millions of whom will soon be wearing their poppies with pride, that they can be absolutely assured that our armed forces remain among the best in the world.”

Mr Healey told Politico’s Power Play podcast last week that “what we’ve not been ready to do is to fight”.

He told the Commons: “We know these are serious times: war in Europe, conflict in the Middle East, growing Russian aggression and increasing threats elsewhere. And as this world becomes more dangerous, we will rely more heavily on the professionalism and courage of our armed forces. And it is against this backdrop that the Government is committed to renewing the nation’s contract with those who serve.”

The Cabinet minister said Labour had introduced the “largest pay increase for armed forces in over 20 years”, made the the Veterans ID an accepted form of verification at the ballot box, and exempted veterans from rules that require a connection to the local area to access housing.

He added: “Remembrance isn’t just an opportunity to show our gratitude and pride, it’s an opportunity to learn, to teach the next generation about the service and the sacrifice of those who came before, and when we consider that the number of veterans in this country will fall by one third during this decade, it’s clear we need to do more at all levels to reinforce the country’s understanding of and commitment to our armed forces.”

Elsewhere in the debate, Mr Cartlidge turned his attention to the Government’s plan to introduce a 20% VAT rate on private school fees and urged ministers to consider an exemption for military families who, he said, could have to choose between a career in the armed forces or their child’s education.

“Labour shouldn’t be forcing thousands of military families to make so stark a choice when we cannot afford to lose such experienced personnel, and when it costs almost £48,000 per head to train just one much less experienced replacement,” Mr Cartlidge said.

Mr Healey took interventions about the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act during his speech, which Labour has promised to repeal and replace with a new set of rules.

The original law halted Northern Ireland legacy inquests, and set up the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) to look into past cases.

Conservative former minister Mark Francois warned that Labour’s plan could “throw many of those veterans to the wolves in order to pander to Sinn Fein”, and Jim Shannon, the Democratic Unionist Party MP for Strangford, said: “My cousin was murdered on December 10 1971. No one was ever made accountable for his murder. The IRA men who killed him ran across the border to the Republic of Ireland to sanctuary and safety.

“The four UDR (Ulster Defence Regiment) members at Ballydugan on April 9 1990, no one made accountable for their murders, and it grieves me greatly on behalf of those people to know that there’s some people still walking about who have never been made accountable in this world for what they have done.”

Mr Healey told the Commons: “The Legacy Bill is without supporters from any side of the communities in Northern Ireland, which is one of the reasons that it should be repealed. And in that process of repeal, we will take fully into account the concerns of veterans, the place of those veterans and their families who have given such service.”