Defence Secretary Wes Streeting has warned that Britain must be ready for war in less than three years, as the threat posed by Russia grows. Writing in the Telegraph, he said that while the willingness of adversaries to harm Britain is understood, what has changed is "their capacity."
He added: "By 2030 their force strength and war economy could put them in a position to attack. That gives us a little over 1,000 days to complete our mission: to be ready with our allies to fight and win."
Preparing for the worst
Mr Streeting said Britain needs to prepare for the worst in order to prevent it. He warned that in the first instance that means expanding Britain's capabilities to make adversaries think twice about taking Britain on. "Should that fail, we must ensure that Britain is ready for war," he added.
His comments come ahead of John Healey's first Budget as Chancellor on Wednesday, October 28. Mr Healey's decision on funding for the British military will be watched closely, after he resigned as Defence Secretary under former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, claiming he and the Treasury were not willing to commit "the resources that the nation needs to defend the country at this time of rising threats."
Defence spending debate
Mr Healey's resignation letter, which slammed the Government for not committing to spending 3% of GDP on defence by 2030, hastened the end of Sir Keir's tenure. Mr Healey was subsequently put in Number 11 by Sir Keir's successor, Andy Burnham. But Mr Streeting offered an indication that Mr Burnham's Government would also stop short of the commitment, having seemingly shifted focus towards meeting the NATO spending target of 3.5% by 2035.
In September, Conservative opposition leader Kemi Badenoch accused Mr Burnham of "kicking defence spending into the long grass." "Our enemies are not going to sit around and wait for Labour to find the money to fight them," she added. Ms Badenoch made the comments as she set out Tory plans to reach 3% by the end of the decade through cuts to welfare and other budgets.
Growing threats and readiness
In his warning, Mr Streeting suggested the broader goal of readying the country for a worst case scenario is being lost in a "fixation with percentages and dates."
Britain has become the subject of repeated threats from Moscow over its ongoing support for Ukraine since Russia's unprovoked full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Earlier this week, the Commons Defence Committee warned that the UK has "glaring gaps" in its military capabilities in the High North that could leave its population, nuclear deterrent and critical subsea pipelines vulnerable to Russian attacks.
MPs warned that "dramatic progress" is needed in building up UK armed forces and ships in the strategically important region by 2030—the year from which Sir Keir predicted Moscow could attack NATO. The Government has also launched a national readiness campaign calling on UK households to stock up on three days worth of supplies in case of a national emergency, such as a war.
