The UK is drawing up new preparations for a potential major conflict, according to Armed Forces Minister Al Carns, in remarks reported by Sky News.
Carns said the government is working at pace on what a whole of society response would require if tensions in Europe worsen. “The shadow of war is knocking on Europe’s door once more. That is the reality. We have to be prepared to deter it,” he told the broadcaster during a visit to RAF Wyton. He added that civilians would have a role, stating that “societies, industries and economies win wars.”
Carns said planning now involves the Ministry of Defence, the Cabinet Office and other departments examining national readiness, including the responsibilities of the wider public should a crisis escalate.
His comments follow warnings from NATO leadership about the scale of the challenge facing member states. Earlier this month in Brussels, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told myself and other reporters at NATO Headquarters that the Alliance is only at the start of a long effort to rebuild military readiness.
Rutte said ministers will review progress toward the commitment agreed at The Hague for members to spend 5 percent of GDP on defence, including 3.5 percent on core military capability. He described this as a strategic shift but cautioned that “this is only the beginning of a long road and we cannot be complacent.”
He highlighted the importance of industrial capacity, saying increased budgets must be matched by the ability to produce equipment at scale. “Increasing our investment is only truly effective if supply matches demand. That is why we are scaling up production capacity,” he said.
Ukraine will dominate discussions at the NATO Ukraine Council meeting, which brings together Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and the EU’s High Representative Kaja Kallas. Rutte condemned Russia’s intensified strikes on civilian infrastructure and stressed that Moscow’s partners were playing a critical enabling role. “Russia is not alone in this war, as China continues to be its decisive enabler and Iran and North Korea also provide support,” he said.
He noted that European and Canadian Allies have provided billions in equipment in recent months and suggested further announcements are expected. Rutte said maintaining collective pressure and accelerating preparedness are key to keeping NATO citizens safe.
Does it urgently involve urgently spending urgent sums of money to buy urgently needed things?
Or is it to urgently issue urgent sounding press releases about urgently thinking about urgently doing something in the far future?
There FIFY!
Probably the latter, just read today how other European Countries are surprised that of the 5 rocket launcher companies given support status only Orbex hasn’t been given its full allocation of funds that the Govt controls with the uk claiming it is still analysing how it should allocate the two thirds of its total it hasn’t, unlike those given to the other launch companies, yet given to Orbex. Seems to mirror our military approach, after recent reorganisation of UK Space Agency which was claimed would help meet support for the sector met with an understandable level of cynicism from many inside the industry and that this development hardly helps to alleviate. Maybe pure coincidence but you lose trust very quickly.
The big question is will the treasury ever allow the DIP to be published.. cannot even get that correct..
Drawing up plans it’s a bit late now isn’t it 🙏 The word Clowns springs to mind 🙄
The standard civil service response to an emergency – commission a report. Hopefully by the time it is finished in a few years time the crisis will have long gone away. Meanwhile our armed force get smaller every year, the rundown of the Navy since 2022 is scandalous, the Army is hardly any better off, and the RAF lacks key capabilities such as AEW or stealth fighter with stand-off weapons.
Oh bugger.
I’m off to my Anderson shelter, see you in 5 years if I don’t hear the sound of Russian jackboots outside.
Umm…you jest, but perhaps not a terrible general proposition. The Swiss have constructed a shelter system w/ a capacity in excess of current population. Significant unoccupied real estate in Scotland and Wales suitable for large scale shelter construction? Huge potential civil engineering programme to stimulate economic growth, financed by the 1.5% of GDP allocated to defence related infrastructure development. Pair w/ sufficient GBAD, the Dreadnought programme w/ expanded warhead count, and the acquisition of dual-capable F-35As and a stock of B61-12s and/or sovereign weaps. At that point HMG would be in a credible position to diplomatically inform Mad Vlad, the Orcs, and frankly the remaining CRINKs, that they should f**k off. 🤔😉😁
If there’s a nuclear apocalypse, there is no government power on earth that will compel me to spend my last hours in Wales 🙂
TorpedoJ,
Now, .now, we colonials don’t wish to be accused of fomenting civil strife w/in the UK! Even if your comment is deemed to be quite amusing…😂😁👍
5 years ? I hope you have enough room to store all the water, beens and shit then !!!!!!
Personally, I’m just going to stand outside and wait for the Tzar Bomba !
I’m thinking of moving to west coast Cornwall.. at present I’m a couple of miles from two strategic sites and up wind or Plymouth…
“Carns said the government is working at pace”
Well that’s the end of that then….
What does “at pace” mean these days, 8-10 years?
‘At pace’ is the new civil service buzzword at the moment it seems🙄
Canada is generating a 300,000 citizens army to quickly respond to a sudden conflict and they were amongst the least proactive NATO members, we won’t even have a Dads Army as things are. Mind you Canada is probably more concerned about the threat from the south, gun permits have apparently shot up, which hopefully will be the consequence for Trump’s private Proud Boy army if they get trigger happy and March north.
Drawing up plans to do what, with what ? Delusional clowns !
With crayons, no doubt.
Don’t panic chaps !!!
Secretly, we have been building up all aspects of the armed forces, be it ships, aircraft or tanks and it’s all just an act of deception, to make our enemies think we are disposing of nearly all our ships, aircraft and tanks.
Well we would have to be pretty stupid to get rid of all our ships, aircraft and tanks wouldn’t we ?
We have croquet lawns, padel courts, bowling greens in abundance.
Our health & safety is sound; our diversity is our strength…
Also we have a lot of plans…which prevent psomething poor performance…
We are indomitable…and yet, somehow, completely stuffed….
😁
And we are world leaders in net zero, we are single handedly saving the planet.
Oh and any russian tanks will be subject to speeding fines and wheel clamping and ULEZ charges too.
Wheel clamps and fines will be the only things we won’t have in trials. And if you want someone rooted out from hiding, send the taxman.
Halfwit,
Hmmm…the allies were actually quite successful w/ strategic and tactical deception schemes prior to Operation Overlord. HMG is certainly capable… 🤔😉😁
HMG is capable of activity. It should be, the size of it! Progress? Entirely another matter….
Urgent 🤣 I bet they said it with a straight face as well 🤡
It would have been sort of nice if they had done this about 10 years ago.. let’s just remember our even more skint grandparents figured out by 1930 they may be heading to war.. by 1932 they started spending more and by 1935 they had a full plan for rearming and the implementation started in 1936.. just imagine if in 1938 they had just started the conversation.. because that seems to be were we are now.
Al Carns is one of the good guys and someone to watch. If he’s working on this, it will probably make good sense.
The tragedy is that The Treasury is unlikely to cough up. In fact, all the signs are that they are taking money away from current defence plans. Also, I’ve read that they won’t allow the DIP to be published because of the immediate and future extra cost of everything proposed.
Ha ha ha what a load of horse shit! Even if this clueless socialist inept bunch of frothing fools in Government actually decided to suddenly plan for war, the Parliamentary Labour Party and the back benches would shoot down any plans immediately! They have an built ideology of the UK and the West being the bad guys, a party held together by harry maskers in the form of a very small majority, in a lot of seats, of a small minority of voters with a particular heritage, many of whom would love to see this country fail, and a fallacy of a thought process that being weak and defenceless, in the form of reduced military capability (also known as uni-lateral disarmament) will keep them safe!
Also one other thought, the people who would mostly be called up to fight, that terrible bunch of facists and nationalist racists, who we know as the young white working class male, may not want to be called up due to being previously bring totally ignored, then abused, used and treated like scum in their own country! Fuck off and see how recruitment goes in areas like Rotherham, Birmingham, Leeds, Bradford, most parts of London and most other Islamic dominated areas!!!!!!!!
👍 No problems.
BOOM.
Pretty much what I said in my post mate. The irony is beyond belief.
James, it would seem I replied to you in error, my post was a stand alone post, bearing no relation to your comment, just chunky finger issues 👍
👍
Correct me if I’m wrong however, there is no ‘Financial evidence’, that the UK is facing (other than cyber) any kind of threat at all.
Yawn.
It seems nobody believes A WORD HMG say any more….
What a surprise.
Meanwhile, factories close, the forces get cut, and the rebranding continues.
As for HMT, has the Security Service checked the backgrounds of just who is staffing that place?
The staff are secret. Even Reeves doesn’t know who she is !!
It’s rich.
The establishment has spent the last few decades utterly demonising nationalism, and now they want to prepare the country for war? How, with calls for patriotism and unity?
Oh, the irony.
Then of course the predominantly white armed forces will be sent out to fight, leaving the migrants safe back here? Yes? Those same armed forces for whom white recruits were not good enough for the CAS a few years ago? Yes?
What planet are they on?
As J often says, you need political will, industry, and society to all pull together, and haven’t we seen HMG over the last 30 years actively undermine every single one?
‘Armed Forces Minister Al Carns said the government is working at pace on what a whole of society response would require if tensions in Europe worsen. “The shadow of war is knocking on Europe’s door once more. That is the reality. We have to be prepared to deter it,” he told the broadcaster during a visit to RAF Wyton. He added that civilians would have a role, stating that “societies, industries and economies win wars.”
Great. HMG should start with getting the Armed Forces to prepare a plan to defend the country with military assets, then patch in the wider society involvement as a second string of staff work.
Mention was made about delay in publishing the DIP, but also where is the Defence Command Paper?
I find it inconceivable that the War Book was just lost after the end of the Cold War. There must be stuff of value within it?
There’s more conflict in the Labour party then in Europe. Left hand, slightly further left hand, hard left hand ….don’t know, don’t care, don’t have the money.
Not ideal. But neither were the so called “Conservatives” before them, Geoff. Which is why this useless bunch of charlatans is in power, too many Tory voters went to Reform.