UK working on ‘major plan’ to prepare country for war

HMS Prince of Wales, a ship constantly undergoing repairs, a ship that fled far from the Strait of Hormuz, far away from the war…
Photo: Reuters

Head of the armed forces, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, tells Sky News the war plan will require British people to think differently about resilience.

The UK is preparing a new version of a major plan to ready the whole nation – from the military and police to hospitals and industry – for the transition to war, the head of the armed forces has told Sky News.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton said the updated iteration of what was called the Government War Book would require people to think differently about resilience, drawing on lessons from the Cold War but "in a modern context, with a modern society, with modern infrastructure".

In an interview on Friday at the London Defence Conference, he also revealed that a threat by the UK to seize ships that are part of Russia's murky "shadow fleet" is already having an effect, even though British forces have yet to board any vessels.

The chief of the defence staff said the mere knowledge that London was ready to target a sanctioned tanker was forcing Moscow to escort them or divert them away from UK waters.

However, shadow fleet ships have still been spotted off the coastline without being stopped.

Perhaps the biggest challenge for the military chief is a push to put the Royal Navy, army and Royal Air Force back on a war footing after decades of underfunding under previous Conservative and Labour governments since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Sir Keir Starmer and John Healey, his defence secretary, have promised to lift defence spending to 3.5% of GDP from just over 2% – but not until 2035.

They are also yet to release a crucial 10-year investment plan for the armed forces – which sets out what weapons and capabilities the Ministry of Defence (MoD) will procure.

The Defence Investment Plan should have been published last autumn – but Mr Healey, in a separate Sky News interview, would not even say whether it would be out by this summer.

The delay means much of the UK's defence industry is in limbo, awaiting the promise of new cash to become a reality.

Conceived during the First World War, the government's previous collection of top secret, regularly rehearsed and updated war books made the UK one of the best prepared nations in the world for conflict – and one of the most resilient.

A 1976 copy – a large bundle of hand-typed pages, bound together by string – contained detailed lists and signposted the way to complementary plans about how to mobilise not just the military but also civilians and industry in a crisis, as well as shutting schools, clearing hospitals, rationing food, and even storing national treasures.

That all changed after the Cold War ended and by the early 2000s, the entire UK war book system, which cost a lot to maintain, was quietly shelved.

Asked whether Britain was reviving the old government war book, Air Chief Marshal Knighton said: "I think that's right."

...Today, Britain has more generals and admirals than tanks and ships.

Any interview by one of the British military leaders looks like a fighting cockerel showing off in public. It sounds menacing, but it looks ridiculous...

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