Multiple reports indicate the UK government is reviving the Cold War-era Government War Book, a move supported by Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, head of the armed forces, who has argued for its resurrection. According to major media, the updated war book will include procedures for shutting schools, clearing hospitals, rationing food, protecting national treasures, and mobilizing military and civilians. It aims to ready the military, police, hospitals, and industry for a transition to war, with protecting critical national infrastructure such as power stations and water supplies from adversaries central to the new approach.
The Government War Book was in place throughout both world wars and the Cold War but was discontinued in the early 2000s. The new version will draw on lessons from the Cold War but apply them in a modern context with modern society and infrastructure, as the relative peace Britain has enjoyed for three decades faces growing threats. The Cabinet Office is leading the cross-government effort to produce this modernized war book.
That requires us to educate ourselves and help the population understand some of those threats and help them understand what they can do to support the nation and potentially support the armed forces.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton emphasized the need for public education and highlighted infrastructure resilience, noting that the Cabinet Office's work across government involves making different choices and priorities to build resilience into national infrastructure as it is renewed. However, the exact nature of these 'different choices and priorities' for building resilience into national infrastructure is not specified. Parallel to this effort, delays in the defense investment plan have created uncertainty for military funding.
Major media reports that the plan, outlining what weapons and capabilities the Ministry of Defence will procure, was due last autumn. Defence Secretary John Healey would not confirm whether it would be released by this summer, and the delay has left much of Britain's defense industry waiting for promised funding to materialize. The hold-up stems from the MoD seeking faster Treasury funding.
I talked before Christmas of the need for – when we think about renewing our water infrastructure or electricity or transport infrastructure – thinking about the threat of action from an adversary that is above the threshold of war, not just a hybrid threat. And think about how we build in that resilience as we renew it and that requires making some different choices and different priorities and that work that the Cabinet Office is doing across the whole of government is something that I really welcome.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton commented that he wants a properly funded defense investment plan that delivers what is needed, even if it takes longer. The exact timeline for the release of the defense investment plan and its funding details remains unknown, adding to the broader uncertainties about how the public will be educated about threats and their role in supporting the nation.
I think that's right.
What I want is a defense investment plan that is properly funded and delivers what we want. If that takes a bit longer, I'd rather have something that works and we can deliver.