UK Defense Secretary Says Britain Must Be Ready to Fight and Win a War

UK Defense Secretary Wes Streeting has warned that Britain must prepare for war as Russia's hybrid warfare against NATO grows more intense. He made the remarks in a piece published in the London-based newspaper The Telegraph on Saturday.

"My defining priority.. is to make sure that this country is ready to fight and win a war," Streeting wrote. "To prevent the worst, we have to prepare for it." He explained that the first step is to expand military capabilities so that adversaries think twice before attacking the country. If that deterrence fails, he said, Britain must be ready for war.

Streeting argued that the country must be prepared, together with its allies, to fight and win. He cautioned that enemies could be in a position to attack the United Kingdom as early as 2030.

"Our adversaries' willingness to harm us is not new," he wrote. "What has changed is their capacity. By 2030, their force strength and war economy could put them in a position to attack." That, he said, leaves a little over 1,000 days to complete the mission of being ready with allies to fight and win. He added that the government "will make sure it is mission accomplished."

His warning comes after the launch of the UK's "Be Ready" campaign, according to The Telegraph. The initiative aims to prepare citizens and residents for the possibility of war, including by stocking at least three days of essential supplies in advance.

On the debate over defense spending, Streeting said he is "certainly willing to have them." He turned on the Conservatives, however, saying they "must face up to the fact that they left Britain with the smallest army since the Napoleonic Wars, missed every single recruitment target and oversaw plunging morale."

He said the current government is already delivering the biggest sustained increase in defense spending since the end of the Cold War. "I am 100 percent confident that under this Labour prime minister and chancellor we will meet our NATO spending target," he wrote. He acknowledged that public support for greater investment brings choices and trade-offs in other areas of government spending, and said his department bears a sharp responsibility to use every penny wisely.

Former UK army chief Gen. Sir Patrick Sanders also addressed the threat in comments to The Telegraph. He said he does not know what more signals are needed for the country to realize it must act within the next five years to increase its resilience.

"The world has become as dangerous, if not more dangerous, than it was in the Cold War," Sanders said. He said he worries about the layers of security Britain has, but even more about its resilience and ability to recover from strikes and protect civilians. The public, he added, must understand that such events are "no longer things that happen elsewhere; they could happen in the UK."