10 hours ago
United Kingdom urgently preparing for ‘wartime scenario', warning nation could come under ‘direct threat'
The UK government has warned that the nation must 'actively prepare for the possibility of the UK coming under direct threat, potentially in a wartime scenario', following a tense 12-day war between Iran and Israel, which threatened to spill over at any moment.
Outlined in a newly released national security strategy, the wartime readiness document frames 2025 as a year of 'confrontation with those who are threatening security,' with Russia's war in Ukraine described as 'the most obvious and pressing example of this.'
The strategy also points to 'Iranian hostile activity on British soil' and highlights efforts by adversaries to disrupt critical supply lines and energy infrastructure.
The report calls for an 'all-of-society effort' to improve resilience, warning that 'the country would have to pull together' to meet these threats.
The release coincides with a NATO summit in the Netherlands, where leaders from all 32 member states are expected to commit to increasing total security spending to 5 per cent of national income by 2035.
That target would include 3.5 per cent allocated to core military capabilities and a further 1.5 per cent to broader security measures.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden described the strategy as 'a plan that is both clear-eyed and hard-edged about the challenges we face.'
He said the government aims to strengthen border security, deepen cooperation with allies, and invest in key national industries such as shipbuilding, nuclear energy, and artificial intelligence.
Among the most significant announcements was a £1 billion (A$2.10 billion) commitment to establishing a 'new network of national biosecurity centres' to bolster the country's defences against biological threats.
The strategy document warns that the UK must reduce 'our dependence on others, including the ability of adversaries to coerce or manipulate us,' and says the country has already faced 'hostile activities including assassination, intimidation, espionage, sabotage, cyber attacks and other forms of democratic interference.'
It also highlights the threat posed by foreign disinformation campaigns, with adversaries using social media to 'stoke tensions between generations, genders and ethnic groups.'
Vital infrastructure, including undersea internet cables, is described as an ongoing target.
McFadden stressed the UK would remain 'clear-eyed' in its approach to China, striking a balance between national security and economic interests.
'We must protect our national security and promote our economic interests,' he said.
Following McFadden's address, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy delivered a statement on the government's classified audit of its relationship with Beijing.
Though the audit itself remains unpublished, Lammy called China a 'sophisticated and persistent threat' while acknowledging that its power is 'an inescapable fact.'
'Not engaging with China is therefore no choice at all,' Lammy said.
The UK would adopt a strategy of 'progressive realism… taking the world as it is, not as we wish it to be', Lammy added.
'We will co-operate where we can and we will challenge where we must,' he said, vowing to never compromise on national security.
