Is Britain Prepared for Conflict?

Many worry as the storm clouds of war in places like Ukraine, fighting Russia, rumble on, the UK is underprepared for war should it come. Our military has suffered cuts over the years at the hands of governments of all hues. Cuts to our RAF, British Army, and Royal Navy. In fact, one wonders if something like the Falklands happened today, could we send a task force as we did back in 1982? Some say we would be lucky to send a rowing boat out with a cannon these days. We sent the HMS Dragon to respond to a Hezbollah or Iranian attack on a British base in Cyprus. Has it made it there yet? Secondhand information says it had to pull in somewhere to be repaired. If I am mistaken, please correct me. If this information is true, it shows the dire state our Navy is in as one example of our armed forces.

Sir Keir Starmer has made it clear that Russia is a deadly enemy of the UK. He has said the chances of Russia and the UK coming to blows are very real. However, given the size of our armed forces today, especially in the British Army and Royal Navy, is Sir Keir living in another reality? Of course, it wouldn't just be us fighting; our colleagues in NATO would be with us. However, given the size of the threat we are facing from adversaries like Russia, we need to up our game militarily. The UK has not joined in the current war with Iran because, as Sir Keir rightly pointed out, it's not our war. However, we have allowed the US to launch operations from our airfields. Our Typhoon fighters are flying to intercept incoming Iranian projectiles. Sir Keir has recently flown to the Gulf to speak to Arab nations under fire from Iran. He has visited British forces over there and made clear that the Straits of Hormuz must be open to all traffic, not just ships friendly to Iran.

The situation in the Persian Gulf is on a tenuous two-week ceasefire. Agreed by Iran, the US and Israel. Although at present, that does not cover the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. Talks are expected to start in Islamabad, Pakistan. Whether these talks will be as fruitless as the last times the US and Iran talked, we will wait and see. The situation is so bad between the two belligerents that they couldn't even sit and face each other in Oman. The Omanis ran from one room to another where the Iranian and American delegations were seated, conveying messages. This will be the case in Pakistan, too, where the Pakistanis will be doing the running this time instead of the Omanis.

Dr. Rob Johnson, an Academic Director of the Changing Character of Conflict Centre at Oxford University, has been speaking to Sky News. China is taking steps to attack Taiwan, he said. While Russia is bogged down but gradually creeping forward in Ukraine. He said that Putin could be preparing to attack NATO itself. Mr. Johnson said an indicator of whether a country is going to attack is when you see activity like expanding their industrial base and expanding their armed forces. Closer to an attack, you would see military training operations, missile tests, and a big recruitment of personnel.

Diplomatic language from a belligerent/belligerents would be more aggressive, withdrawing from treaties, recalling ambassadors and severing diplomatic ties. A government like Britain or any other nation fearing attack would have to restrict movement, ration food and fuel. TV, radio, and online platforms would be used to encourage patriotism and demonise any potential enemy.

This all sounds very World War II. It just shows that even though times change, preparations against an enemy and preparations on the home front haven't altered.