UK ‘is not prepared for an armed attack’ in the face of Putin’s aggression

A damning new report from the Commons defense Committee has shown the UK is ‘nowhere near’ where it should be to defend itself in case of a war.

The stark warning also cited the UK’s failure to meet its NATO obligations and its heavy reliance on the United States for intel, satellites, troop transport and refuelling of planes.

The challenges facing the Government and defense industry were laid bare in the parliamentary committee’s report.

‘The UK lacks a plan for defending the homeland and overseas territories,’ the MPs warned as they called for the public to be given more information about the scale of the threat and the response that is required.

The committee’s chairman, labor’s Tan Dhesi, said: ‘Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, unrelenting disinformation campaigns, and repeated incursions into European airspace mean that we cannot afford to bury our heads in the sand.’

‘Government must be willing to grasp the nettle and prioritise homeland defense and resilience.’

The report stressed that there needs to be a ‘coordinated effort’ to communicate the threat level to the public.

Earlier this year, two leading experts warned Metro that the UK was ‘sleepwalking into a bloody ambush’.

Dr Simon Bennett from the University of Leicester School of Business suggested the UK may not emerge sovereign and free unless it wakes up.

Starmer’s refusal to set a deadline on his commitment to spend a larger percentage of GDP on defense only ‘emboldens Putin’, Dr Bennett said.

‘There is no sense that we have developed a war mentality or that we intend to develop a war economy,’ he said.

Chatham House Russian expert Keir Giles agreed, but pointed out this year’s defense review did focus on raising ‘civil awareness and resilience’.

He said: ‘It seems they’ve recognized that there is a fundamental mission of educating Britain’s public and its voters as to the threats facing them and other UK institutions.

‘But this comes after decades of failure by the government to not only explain that the fundamental rights and freedoms and prosperity that the UK enjoys are under threat, but also that they are worth defending.’

Even as the UK’s defense capabilities are questioned, at least 13 sites across the UK have been identified for new factories to make munitions and military explosives, with defense Secretary John Healey expecting the arms industry to break ground at the first plant next year.

In a speech in London today, he will say the ‘new era of threat’ presents an economic opportunity with at least 1,000 new jobs to be created.

The Ministry of defense (MoD) has funded a number of feasibility studies for new energetics factories – producing explosives, pyrotechnics and propellants – to kickstart high-volume production in the UK for the first time in nearly two decades.

Potential sites for the ‘factories of the future’ include Grangemouth in Scotland, Teesside in north-east England and Milford Haven in Wales.

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