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Topics: UK News, World News, Army, Russia
Joe Harker
Sir Richard Barrons, a former chief of the UK's Joint Forces Command, has warned that the British public needs to be taught how to survive a missile attack as global tensions escalate.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer recently said that the UK must be prepared for war, saying that over the next few years, he was moving the armed forces to 'war-fighting readiness' and that the country faces a 'more serious and immediate' threat than anything encountered since the end of the Cold War.
The government's Strategic Defence Review, co-authored by Sir Richard, has warned that the UK faces an array of threats, including cyber attacks, long-range drones, and missile strikes.
Meanwhile, Russian propagandists bleat on about how their nuclear arsenal could wipe us all out and claim that Britain is Russia's 'number one target'.
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Russia is still reeling after being caught out by a major drone attack from Ukraine, which targeted several military bases and destroyed a huge amount of equipment, but they are expected to retaliate against the country they have been invading for over three years.
Back in the UK, Barrons told The i Paper that 'families and communities' had to make ready for war along with those in charge of major companies and vital public services.
He suggested that among the measures Brits may need to come up with was having the NHS create a 'volunteer reserve' of retired staff who could be called back into action should the need arise.
The retired general said that it was 'unlikely' but not 'impossible' that British towns and cities could be struck, suggesting that teaching people what to do in the event of an air raid could reduce casualties should the worst come to pass.
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He said: "There is a clear, present risk – particularly as President Putin does see himself as being at war with the West.
"The homeland is again on the pitch – it's not got some magic immunity from war, in the same way that Kyiv doesn't. Air and missile attacks will cause civilian casualties in potentially very large numbers."
Barrons further suggested that the UK could learn a thing or two from the likes of Finland and Sweden and their 'total defence' plans.
While those Nordic countries are much closer to Russia than Britain, long-range missiles make great distances a relatively trivial matter.
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The retired general said that in those countries, 'the entire population feels part of the defence effort', whereas the UK is 'just not anywhere near that', lamenting a 'lack of awareness' among Brits about how much danger they could be in.
He claimed that the UK's 'biggest national weakness in defence' was ignorance and complacency in society, warning that the NHS might have to prepare for a situation where it would be treating casualties.
As much as we hope it doesn't come to that, you hope for the best and prepare for the worst.