A new poll reveals that a majority of Britons doubt the UK could defend itself against a Russian attack. More than half (54%) of respondents said they are not confident Britain would be able to repel an assault by Vladimir Putin's forces, in a blow to Labour.
Pressure on Burnham over defence spending
The findings come as Prime Minister Andy Burnham faces growing pressure to increase defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2030. He has so far failed to commit to the target, which Chancellor John Healey said was required as he quit as defence secretary under Sir Keir Starmer.
In the survey, 24% of respondents said they were “not at all confident” of Britain’s defences against a Russian military attack, while 30% said they were “not very confident”. Just over one in three (34%) said they were confident, with 24% answering “fairly confident” and only 10% “very confident”. Some 13% answered “don’t know”.
Vulnerabilities and expert concerns
The survey was conducted by BMG Research for The i Paper. The number of participants was not reported. Experts have long raised concerns over Britain’s ability to defend itself, particularly against ballistic missiles. The Royal Navy’s Sea Viper missile-armed Type 45 destroyers are the only layer of defence against such weapons, but the Navy only has six of the £1 billion warships, which have suffered availability issues and are often not deployed.
Britain would also likely struggle to fend off waves of Russian drones, as seen regularly in Ukraine. Retired General Sir Richard Barrons, co-author of last year’s Strategic Defence Review, told The i he “admired the 34 per cent” who were confident in Britain’s ability to stop a Russian attack. He added: “As the SDR made clear last year, the UK has the Armed Forces it ended up with at the end of the post-Cold War era, yet lives now in a new, far more dangerous era of state confrontation and conflict.”
Government response and NATO warning
Mr Burnham has committed to the new NATO target of spending 3.5% of GDP on defence by 2035. He was expected to outline the roadmap to this figure during his Labour Party conference speech on Wednesday but did not discuss the plan, prompting criticism from the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. NATO chief Mark Rutte has warned Russia could attack an alliance member within the next five years.
A Government spokesman said: “We’ve delivered the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War – committing nearly £300bn over the next four years. That means more money for the kit and personnel that keep us safe everyday. And we’ve launched the Home Defence Programme, to ensure we’re prepared for potential threats, however likely they may be. Just weeks ago, we announced that we’ll be updating departmental crisis plans, known as The Warbook, and will be holding the largest home defence exercise in recent UK history next year.”
