The UK must prepare for the possibility of a “wartime scenario” on home soil, a major new government review has warned.
The National Security Strategy, published on Tuesday, has issued the grim warning as events in the Middle East and Russia’s war with Ukraine continue to add to international instability.
It comes just 48 hours after Iran threatened to target UK bases following the US attack on its nuclear facilities, before a ceasefire was announced last night.
The strategy also recommends that UK citizens undergo “national resilience exercises” in preparation for attacks at home.
“For the first time in many years, we have to actively prepare for the possibility of the UK homeland coming under direct threat, potentially in a wartime scenario,” the strategy warns.
It added: “The years ahead will test the United Kingdom … The direction it takes – and the decisions we take – will reverberate through the decades.”
It said the UK will need “agility and courage to succeed”, but adds the country should be optimistic in part because of the “determination of the British people themselves”.
“After all, we do not need to look too far into our history for an example of a whole-of-society effort, motivated by a collective will to keep each other safe. We can mobilise that spirit again and use it both for our national security and the building of our country.”
Cabinet minister Pat McFadden told MPs that the whole country had to be “clear-eyed and hard-edged” about the threats that it faces.
Sir Keir Starmer has announced that he intends to commit the UK to 5 per cent of GDP spending on defence and national security, on a trip to a Nato summit.
Just hours later, his government published the strategy, which warns that Russian cyberattacks and sabotage and Iranian “hostile activity” are increasing in the UK.
In the document, ministers also promise “greater robustness and consistency” in the way it deals with China.
The government also plans to carry out a cross-government exercise on how to deal with crises, such as a future pandemic, later this year.
On resilience training, the strategy requires the public, as well as business and academia, to adopt good practices on cybersecurity.
“It means asking the private sector to engage with law enforcement to protect people from harmful and illegal content online, and ensuring that human security remains at the forefront of AI,” the document said.
“This is the task ahead of us: to mobilise the nation in the common cause of our national security.”
The public will be informed about the preparedness for risks, while there will be “annual national exercises” to test society’s preparedness, although there is not detail on what these will include.
There will also be training for “all those across our society” who play a vital role in national resilience, while critical national infrastructure will be protected in an effort to counter sabotage.
Countries across Europe are also stepping up their preparations for potential warfare.
Late last year, millions of Swedes were sent a pamphlet advising them on how to prepare and cope in the event of war or another unexpected crisis, as Russia’s war in Ukraine continued to escalate.
Around the same time, Finland also published fresh advice on “preparing for incidents and crises”.
Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel accused the government of not being clear enough about how they would reach the core defence spending goal, claiming ministers had offered only “smoke and mirrors”.
She urged Mr McFadden to set out when he would “actually deliver a plan to get to 2 per cent, and why won’t he heed our calls to hit 3 per cent by the end of this parliament, which would be vital, and a vital stepping stone on the way to that higher defence spending that he is seeking”.
