The new National Security Strategy has been published with a grim warning as international turmoil in the Middle East and Ukraine continues.
The UK must prepare for the possibility of a “wartime scenario” on home soil, a major new government review has warned.
The National Security Strategy, published on Tuesday, has issued the grim warning as events in the Middle East and Russia’s war with Ukraine continue to add to international instability.
It comes just 48 hours after Iran threatened to target UK bases following the US attack on its nuclear facilities before a ceasefire was announced last night.
The strategy also recommends that UK citizens undergo “national resilience exercises” in preparation for attacks at home.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has announced that he intends to commit the UK to 5% of GDP spending on defence and national security, on a trip to a Nato summit.
Just hours later his government published the strategy, which warns that Russian cyber attacks and sabotage and Iranian “hostile activity” are increasing in the UK.
In the document ministers also promise “greater robustness and consistency” in the way it deals with China.
The government also plans to carry out a cross-government exercise on how to deal with crises, such as a future pandemic, later this year.
Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel told the Commons the Government had not been clear enough about how it would reach the core defence spending goal, claiming ministers had only offered “smoke and mirrors”.
She added: “So, when will he actually deliver a plan to get to 2%, and why won’t he heed our calls to hit 3% by the end of this Parliament, which would be vital, and a vital stepping stone on the way to that higher defence spending that he is seeking.”
