A national conversation on preparedness is way short of engaging every citizen, according to Lord Toby Harris, chair of the National Preparedness Commission. A new commission report makes the case that the UK is being left behind by allies who have already made difficult decisions about civilian preparedness. Sweden's government worked through its national registry of licensed electricians, selected individuals and began training them as emergency repair crews for the electricity network. Report author Elisabeth Braw said electricity infrastructure is indispensable in war because Russians will target it as they do in Ukraine. Estonia has built a defence model based on conscription and a reserve force that can be mobilised at speed. Elisabeth Braw believes Britain could adopt elements of Estonia's approach without reintroducing compulsory service.
Military leaders have revealed severe depletion of UK armed forces, questioning the ability to fulfill NATO commitments. General Sir Richard Barrons warned that none of the UK's military services could do anything substantial. He said the British Army is so depleted it could only seize a small market town on a good day. General Sir Richard Barrons said the UK has promised NATO a strategic reserve corps of between 30,000 and 50,000 troops, ready to deploy anywhere in the alliance, but the army has not got the equipment, training or support to get anywhere close to delivering the promised NATO strategic reserve corps. Jack Watling, a senior research fellow at RUSI, agreed with General Barrons' assessment. Jack Watling warned that the Ukrainians lost 10,000 people killed and wounded defending Bakhmut, which would almost be the entire infantry force in the British military. He also warned that the UK is critically short of artillery after having given large amounts to Ukraine.
That's something that is indispensable in war because the Russians will target electricity infrastructure as they already do in Ukraine.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer faces accusations of complacency amid concerns over the UK's lack of preparedness for the war in the Middle East. He was challenged with claims that the UK is already at war. Starmer chaired an emergency Cobra meeting on Monday afternoon to prepare for the war's impact on the cost of living. He admitted to MPs he was unable to give a timetable for the end of the conflict despite Donald Trump's declaration of a ceasefire. Starmer was challenged over the lack of Royal Navy ships in the Mediterranean when President Trump launched his war on Iran.
Since the end of the Cold War, the army has halved in size from about 150,000 and 73,000 reserves to around 70,000 regulars and a reserve of 23,000, according to General Sir Richard Barrons. He said the Royal Air Force in 1990 had 850 combat jets and has 160 today, although these are much better than Cold War era fighters. Britain's Royal Navy had 50 major surface combatant ships at the end of the Cold War and now has 13, and cannot get all of those to sea at once.
If war comes, we will depend on those kinds of people, not just on people carrying arms.
Britain's Royal Navy has garnered attention over the time it took to send Type-45 destroyer HMS Dragon to help defend Cyprus after an airstrike on RAF Akrotiri earlier this month. German frigate Sachsen is taking over from HMS Dragon as a flagship in a NATO task force. Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty claimed on X that Germany bailed Britain out and the Royal Navy had run out of ships.
Former military leaders warn of critical vulnerabilities and political neglect amid current threats. Lord Richard Dannatt, former Head of the British Army, said politicians have hollowed out defence over the years and the risks have come home to roost amid the Iran war. He said Britain's inability to instantly deploy Destroyers really speaks volumes. Former Chief of the General Staff Richard Dannatt said the UK was not in a position to resist threats posed by Russia over critical vulnerabilities in Britain's defence. Moscow had been undertaking a month-long submarine operation in British waters.
Estonia has a brilliant system of having snap exercises. So if you can show that you can call up your reservists on 48 hours' notice, which is what the Estonians can do, and that keeps the reservists up to date and engaged, but by conducting these exercises, Estonia also signals to Russia that all those reservists... will be able to get to where they need to be very quickly. So it would be a pain for Russia to try anything — try any military action — against Estonia.
Regional threats and incidents include Israel issuing a warning that Iranian missiles are a threat to European cities including London, Paris and Berlin. Two ballistic missiles were unsuccessfully fired by Iran towards the UK-US Diego Garcia military base on the Chagos Islands.
The Armed Forces that we have now, because of their size, but also because of their sophistication, can make a very small contribution on land, in the air and at sea, to an enterprise either led by the US or more likely a Nato undertaking. What it cannot do is anything substantial.
The army has not got the equipment or the training or the support to get anywhere close to delivering that yet.
Today's army frankly could do one very small thing, essentially it could seize a small market town on a good day.
The Ukrainians trying to defend Bakhmut lost 10,000 people, killed and wounded over the course of the defence of Bakhmut, which is a small market town, and that would almost be the entire infantry force in the British military.
What it cannot do is anything substantial.
That would almost be the entire infantry force of the British military. So, yes, General Barrons is right and it's important to note that the demand from NATO... requires substantially more capability.
The conundrum that we live with today - and it is profoundly important - is we've now entered a new era in global affairs, a much greater risk. But we're entering it with the Armed Forces we were left with from a much more comfortable, peaceful time.
The UK was 'not in a position' to resist threats posed by Russia over 'critical vulnerabilities' in Britain's defence.