The UK is “rapidly developing” plans to prepare the whole country for the possible outbreak of war, the armed forces minister has said.
Underlining the role civilians would have to play in a major conflict, Al Carns said armies, navies and air forces respond to crises but “societies, industries and economies win wars”.
He said: “The shadow of war is knocking on Europe’s door once more. That’s the reality. We’ve got to be prepared to deter it.”
The comments came after Mark Rutte, the head of NATO, told allies on Thursday that Europe must ready itself for a confrontation with Russia on the kind of scale “our grandparents and great-grandparents endured” – a reference to the First and Second World Wars.
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In an indication of the threat, Britain revealed on Friday that the level of hostile intelligence activity – such as spying, hacking and physical threats – against its armed forces and the Ministry of Defence has jumped by more than 50% over the past year.
Russia, China, Iran and North Korea are suspected of being the main culprits.
The government is launching a new defence counter-intelligence unit to bolster its ability to detect and disrupt intelligence operations by hostile states.
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It has also moved to enhance the Ministry of Defence’s spying capabilities by combining the various military intelligence branches across the army, navy and air force, as well as Defence Intelligence, into a new organisation called the Military Intelligence Services.
The “MI” initials are the same as in MI5 and MI6 – the UK’s domestic and foreign intelligence agencies.
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Mr Carns, a former special forces colonel, visited RAF Wyton, a top-secret military spy base in Cambridgeshire, with a second defence minister, Louise Sandher-Jones, as well as a group of journalists to announce the organisational changes.
But improving the readiness of the professional armed forces is only part of any country’s preparedness for potential conflict.
With France warning its people they may need to lose their children fighting a war with Russia, Sky News asked Mr Carns whether he thought more needed to be done to inform the British public about the sacrifices they might be required to make in a war.
The minister said: “There’s a whole load of work going on now between us [Ministry of Defence], the Cabinet Office, and the whole of society approach, and what conflict means, and what everybody’s role in society means if we were to go to war and the build up to war.”
He continued: “Collectively, everybody – what is their role if we get caught in an existential crisis, and what do they need to be aware they need to do and what they can’t do, and how do we mobilise the nation to support a military endeavour?
“Not just about deploying the military, but actually about protecting every inch of our own territory. That work is ongoing now, it’s rapidly developing. We’ve got to move as fast as we can to make sure that’s shored up.”
The UK used to have a comprehensive plan for the transition from peace to war.
Developed over decades, the Government War Book had instructions for every part of society, from the army and the police to schools, hospitals and even art galleries.
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However, this huge body of preparedness – which was expensive to maintain – was quietly shelved following the end of the Cold War.
Mr Carns’s comments indicate that some kind of modern version of the doctrine could make a comeback.
Communicating the changing reality of the security situation to the public is also seen as key.
The armed forces minister said many people in the UK do not see, hear or feel the dangers even as Russia’s war in Ukraine rages, impacting the cost of fuel.
“We’ve got to bring that home to make sure people understand, not to scare them, but to be realistic and understand where those threats are emanating from, and why defence and a whole society approach is so important,” he said.
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