Former defence ministers issue stark warning that UK has failed to prepare for war

The UK, as a whole nation, has failed to prepare for war, a former armed forces minister has warned.

James Heappey said only officials from the MOD had made the effort to take part in an exercise to see how the UK would be governed in wartime. 

Mr Heappey, who served in the British Army, also called for the Government to put plans in place to commandeer land to feed Britain and take hold of consumer electronics for use as weapons.

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Writing in the Telegraph, he agreed with Defence Secretary Grant Shapps that the UK had moved into a "pre-war age" after Russia invaded Ukraine.

But Mr Heappey said the UK's level of preparedness did not match the threat, stating: "War is a whole-nation endeavour and, to be frank, in the UK we're a very long way behind."

"The post-Cold War peace dividend meant that our strategic resilience could slip down the list of government priorities," he said.

Mr Heappey explained this meant UK defence focused on "doing things in remote places like Afghanistan or Iraq", not in Western Europe and the North Atlantic.

He said this in turn meant the Government "didn’t need to worry about defence" and it was "just left to the MOD".

This, he said, ignored the fact that during wartime, the whole Government would be involved.

Former defence secretary Ben Wallace agreed with Mr Heappey and said there were too many people in government "just hoping everything will go away".

He added it was time to "blow the dust off" manuals drawn up during the Cold War on how the UK would be governed during wartime.

Mr Heappey explained that Mr Wallace had called for a whole Government exercise with people down in the wartime bunker to see what working in a war scenario would be like.

But this exercise ended up with just "defence ministers, senior military officers and MOD officials" participating. 

Mr Heappey said it was a "shame that the whole of Whitehall didn't get involved" as the mood changes quickly when in the bunker and "you start to ask yourself very seriously what your job is in the most dangerous moment our nation could face".

Mr Wallace also echoed Mr Heappey's call for the Government to do better and was quoted in the Telegraph saying that the insecurity facing the UK means the whole of society needs to "think about our defence and our resilience".

"It's how we used to think during the Cold War, and everyone from local government to the MOD played their part," he said.

But Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said he thought both Mr Wallace and Mr Heappey were  wrong.

He told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg he does however agree the UK is facing rising threats from across the globe.

"We are taking action across the board. We have set up a national cybersecurity centre in respect of cyber. I now take dozens of decisions daily about investment to protect our economic security," he said.

"This world is going to get more dangerous as time goes on. We see a combination of hostile states, not least Russia, Iran, North Korea and China.

"We need to be taking action across those areas. Of course there is always more to do, but I believe we are making good progress against rising threats."

A Government spokesman said: "We are investing a record amount in defence to protect the national security of the United Kingdom and ensure the operational effectiveness of our Armed Forces.

"Between 2020 and 2025, we've invested an extra £24bn – the largest sustained increase since the end of the Cold War.

"The UK has robust plans in place for a range of potential emergencies and scenarios, with plans and supporting arrangements developed, refined and tested over many years.

"Practical steps taken to enhance the nation's resilience include the launch of the UK Government Resilience Framework, the publication of the National Risk Register and strengthened work with local partners and front line authorities.

"We regularly hold cross-government planning exercises for a range of scenarios and continue to review the risk landscape, including threats to the UK from overseas."