Britain is failing in its efforts to fight a hybrid war with Russia and is unprepared for a wider-scale global conflict, according to Fiona Hill, former director for European and Russian affairs in the National Security Council under Donald Trump. According to The Independent - Main, Hill described the UK's contingencies for dealing with present and future disruptions as 'not fit for purpose'. The UK has no single minister responsible for national resilience in times of crisis, according to multiple reports. Lord Robertson, former secretary general of NATO, accused the government of 'corrosive complacency' over failure to implement the Strategic Defence Review's 62 recommendations. The head of MI6, Blaise Metreweli, said last year: 'We are now operating in a space between peace and war.' Russia is the principal threat to the UK, according to the heads of the British army, navy and air force.
The British Army could only 'seize a small market town on a good day', according to General Sir Richard Barrons, as reported by The Independent - Main. According to the same source, General Sir Richard Barrons said none of the UK armed services could do 'anything substantial'. The UK has promised NATO a strategic reserve corps of between 30,000 and 50,000 troops, but the army lacks equipment, training and support to deliver that, according to General Sir Richard Barrons. According to The Independent - Main, Jack Watling, senior research fellow for land warfare at RUSI, described how the Ukrainians lost 10,000 people killed and wounded defending Bakhmut, which would be almost the entire infantry force of the British military. The UK is critically short of artillery after giving large amounts to Ukraine, according to Jack Watling. Since the end of the Cold War, the British Army has halved in size from about 150,000 regulars and 73,000 reserves to around 70,000 regulars and 23,000 reserves, according to multiple reports. The Royal Air Force had 850 combat jets in 1990 and has 160 today, according to multiple reports.
In the UK, our systems are not designed to cope with major disruptions. It is up to the leadership to come up with a plan because, at the moment, what is there is not fit for purpose.
The Royal Navy had 50 major surface combatant ships in 1990 and now has 13, and cannot get all of those to sea at once, according to multiple reports. The UK lacked Royal Navy ships in the Mediterranean when President Trump launched his war on Iran, according to Sir Bernard Jenkin. German frigate Sachsen is taking over from HMS Dragon as a flagship in a NATO task force, according to multiple reports. Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty claimed Germany bailed Britain out and the Royal Navy had run out of ships. According to GB News - Politics, Lord Richard Dannatt, former Head of the British Army, described how politicians 'hollowed out defence' and the 'risks have come home to roost' amid the Iran war. According to GB News - Politics, Lord Richard Dannatt described Britain's inability to instantly deploy Destroyers as something that 'really speaks volumes'.
Britain is dangerously unprepared for a third world war and must consider conscription and whole-society mobilisation, according to experts and Lord Toby Harris. According to Daily Express - UK News, Lord Toby Harris, chair of the National Preparedness Commission, described a national conversation as meaning every citizen is engaged, adding that 'we're way, way short of that'. Sweden has trained licensed electricians as emergency repair crews for the electricity network as part of civilian preparedness, according to multiple reports. According to Daily Express - UK News, Elisabeth Braw described how 'if war comes, we will depend on those kinds of people, not just on people carrying arms'. Estonia has a defence model based on conscription and a reserve force that can be mobilised at speed, including snap exercises on 48 hours' notice, according to multiple reports.
We have seen the effects of choke points in the Gulf, disruptions to transport. The NHS cannot cope with mass casualties, and we need to build up food supplies and systems to cope with disruption to imports.
Iran fired two ballistic missiles towards the UK-US Diego Garcia military base on the Chagos Islands, according to multiple reports. Israel warned that Iranian missiles are a threat to European cities including London, Paris and Berlin. Sir Keir Starmer faces accusations of 'complacency' over the UK's lack of preparedness for the war in the Middle East, according to critics. Sir Keir Starmer admitted to MPs he was unable to give a timetable for the end of the conflict despite Donald Trump's declaration of a ceasefire.
According to The Independent - Main, Fiona Hill described how the UK has no effective system to monitor small drones that could be weaponised. According to GB News - Politics, Lord Richard Dannatt, former Chief of the General Staff, described the UK as '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, according to multiple reports.
We don’t have archives of maps digitised and no analogue systems to use if digital systems collapse. This is an urgent national debate that needs to happen now.
There are contradictions in assessments of the UK's naval readiness. The UK lacked Royal Navy ships in the Mediterranean when President Trump launched his war on Iran, according to Sir Bernard Jenkin. Unknowns remain about the exact current size and readiness of the British Army's infantry force, how many Royal Navy ships are currently deployable, and the timeline for implementing the Strategic Defence Review's 62 recommendations. The extent of Russia's submarine operations in British waters and the UK's response also remain unclear.
There are so many soft targets around the UK it’s impossible to count them.
We are now operating in a space between peace and war.
A national conversation means that every citizen is engaged in it and we're way, way short of that.
There needs to be more going on in schools, there needs to be more going on in businesses. If you spoke to most business leaders, they would not see it as their responsibility. They would see it as something government had to do and not 'well what could be our contribution?'.
That's something that is indispensable in war because the Russians will target electricity infrastructure as they already do in Ukraine.
If war comes, we will depend on those kinds of people, not just on people carrying arms.
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.
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.
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.
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 risks have come home to roost.
Really speaks volumes.