The British public must to be taught how to survive a mass missile attack through a “national defence plan,” which could include air raid drills with sirens being tested.
This is a stark new warning from one of the UK’s top former generals, Sir Richard Barrons, who co-wrote the Government’s Strategic Defence Review.
This week, the Prime Minister accepted all of the review’s recommendations on how the Armed Forces should be supplied and organised for decades to come.
But Barrons has now gone further in an interview with The i Paper – arguing that “families and communities” across the country, as well as leaders of core public services and major companies, should learn how to cope with war.
He said the UK needs to urgently change its mindset to be more like Finland and Sweden, which border Russia and are considered to be much more prepared for an attack.
The former head of the Joint Forces Command – now the Strategic Command – also suggested that the NHS should register a “volunteer reserve” of retired doctors, nurses and pharmacists who could be called into action.
Readying the public for air raids
The prospect of British towns and cities being hit as a result of a war with Russia is an “unlikely” but not “impossible” situation, said Barrons.
“There is a clear, present risk – particularly as president Putin does see himself as being at war with the West.”
He continued: “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.”
Teaching people “what to do when there’s an air raid” would “reduce casualties” and “keep the country functioning”, he said.
“Having a system where citizens and their children know what to do when they get these warnings – that’s an important part of resilience.”
Several European allies regularly test their alert systems, with sirens being sounded, texts sent to phones, warnings broadcast on TV and radio, and messages posted online.
Why Finland and Sweden should inspire the UK
Barrons suggested that a comprehensive guide for dealing with even the worst military scenarios should be developed and shared with the population, similar to the Protect and Survive booklets and information films from the Cold War era.
“You need that kind of plan,” he said, to kick-start a “reset of UK national resilience in time of war”.
The UK could learn from Nordic countries, including Finland and Sweden, which have developed plans for “total defence”, he said. “These are comprehensive models where the entire population feels part of the defence effort. The UK is just not anywhere near that.”
Read Next: An air raid siren on holiday made me realise how close we are to World War Three
He lamented the “disconnection” and “lack of awareness” among the British public about how severe the dangers really are, and why it is necessary for them to think about how they would cope.
“The challenge is that if you have that conversation in Sweden, they’ll say: ‘Well, obviously.’ If you have that conversation in the UK, people go: ‘What are you smoking?’”
This societal complacency and ignorance is the UK’s “biggest national weakness in defence”, said Barrons, who is now co-chair of the consultancy Universal Defence and Security Solutions.
He recognised that ministers have begun working on “aspects” of this. For example, the country’s Emergency Alerts service – involving an alarm sounding on every mobile phone – is expected to be tested again this year, following its first trial in 2023.
On its Prepare website, the Government has also published a list of items that every household should store for a 72-hour survival kit to cope during emergencies, ranging from natural disasters to armed conflicts. These include bottled water, long-life food, wind-up radios and torches, plus first aid equipment.
The Government is considering teaching children about careers in the military, providing paid gap years in the Armed Forces to school leavers, and creating a home guard-style of force to protect vital infrastructure.
