The UK must actively prepare for a “wartime scenario” on British soil “for the first time in many years”, the Government has warned. In the national security strategy published on Tuesday, ministers said the UK now finds itself in “an era in which we face confrontation with those who are threatening our security”.
The strategy aims to protect the UK at home and abroad and also invest more in artificial intelligence (AI) and defence. It draws on work across Government, including recent plans to revamp the defence sector and boost the economy by backing growth industries, with the aim of bolstering the security of the UK.
Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden told the Commons the whole country must now be “clear-eyed and hard-edged” about the threats it faces.
“We are in an era in which we face confrontation with those who are threatening our security,” the strategy warned, pointing to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as the most pressing example. Russian cyber attacks and sabotage, and Iranian “hostile activity” in the UK are also increasing, it warned.
The strategy added: “Meanwhile, some adversaries are laying the foundations for future conflict, positioning themselves to move quickly to cause major disruption to our energy and or supply chains, to deter us from standing up to their aggression.
“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.”
Mr McFadden told the Commons the strategy provided a “plan that is both clear-eyed and hard-edged about the challenges we face”. The senior minister, whose title is the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said the strategy would aim to deliver “three crucial things”.
The first of these is to “protect security at home”, by bolstering the borders and making the UK “more resilient to future threats”. Ministers are stepping up calls for the whole of society to become more resilient and plan to carry out a cross-government exercise of how to deal with crises – such as a future pandemic – later this year.
The UK must also work to “promote strength abroad” with allies in order to defend their “collective security”, Mr McFadden said.
He added: “It also means a clear-eyed view of how we engage with major powers like China, where we must protect our national security and promote our economic interests.”
The strategy warned that “instances of China’s espionage, interference in our democracy and the undermining of our economic security have increased in recent years”. The Government has promised “greater robustness and consistency” in the way it deals with China, according to the document.
The third step Mr McFadden set out was for the UK to increase its “sovereign and asymmetric capabilities”, including by rebuilding its defence industries and building “advantages in new frontier technologies” like AI.
The document was released as the Prime Minister arrived in the Netherlands for a Nato leaders’ summit. At the gathering, allies are being asked to raise defence funding to 5% of national economic output, a commitment made up of 3.5% core military spending, and a further 1.5% to be spent on broader security spending.
Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel told the Commons the Government had not been clear enough about how it would reach the core defence spending goal, claiming ministers had only offered “smoke and mirrors”.
She added: “So, when will he actually deliver a plan to get to 2%, and why won’t he heed our calls to hit 3% 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.”
