{"id":5981,"date":"2025-06-03T09:30:12","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T09:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/burn-the-priest.com\/?p=5981"},"modified":"2025-06-03T11:35:06","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T11:35:06","slug":"the-uk-is-sleepwalking-into-a-bloody-ambush-and-may-not-be-around-in-2034","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/03\/the-uk-is-sleepwalking-into-a-bloody-ambush-and-may-not-be-around-in-2034\/","title":{"rendered":"The UK is \u2018sleepwalking into a bloody ambush and may not be around in 2034\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The plans laid out in the Defence Review are a step in the right direction – but not enough, experts say (Pictures: Getty\/Metro)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After warning that the UK must be prepared for a real-world attack by Russia<\/a>, leading experts have warned that not enough is being done to deter Vladimir Putin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Strategic Defence Review, released yesterday, recommended sweeping changes, including a focus on new technology and reaching 3% GDP defence spending.<\/p>\n

Presenting the review, Prime Minister Keir Starmer<\/a> said: \u2018We will never gamble with our national security\u2019.<\/p>\n

However, Dr Simon Bennett from the University of Leicester School<\/a> of Business has suggested that\u2019s exactly what Starmer has done. <\/p>\n

He says it suggests the UK is \u2018sleepwalking into a bloody ambush from which it may not emerge sovereign and free\u2019. <\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\tSign up for all of the latest stories\t\t\t<\/h2>\n
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Start your day informed with Metro’s News Updates<\/a><\/strong> newsletter or get Breaking News<\/a> <\/strong>alerts the moment it happens.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

He told Metro<\/strong>: \u2018As Germany reminded us last week, Russia poses an existential threat to Europe. Poland, one of the countries in Moscow\u2019s sights, will this year spend 4.7% of its GDP on defence.’ <\/p>\n

Starmer\u2019s refusal to set a deadline on his commitment to spend 3% of GDP on defence only \u2018emboldens Putin\u2019, Dr Bennett said. \u2018There is no sense that we have developed a war mentality or that we intend to develop a war economy.\u2019<\/p>\n

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Experts have warned of Russia’s threat to the UK for years (Picture: Reuters)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chatham House Russian expert Keir Giles agrees. <\/p>\n

Starmer\u2019s hesitation to set a deadline for defence spending not only emboldens Putin but also the United States, which has repeatedly raised concerns about other NATO countries not meeting their spending requirements on defence.<\/p>\n

Mr Giles said: \u2018When the NATO summit at the Hague happens again, the UK will be an outlier in terms of the commitment to funding defence.<\/p>\n

\u2018Starmer has refused to say that he will set a deadline at all. There are words about the defence spending being subject to fiscal and economic conditions, so once again, the UK is dragging their feet in terms of power. <\/p>\n

‘They\u2019re unwilling to put their money where their mouth is.\u2019<\/p>\n

Over the weekend, Defence Secretary John Healey said there is no doubt UK defence spending will rise to 3% of GDP by 2034. <\/p>\n

He said: ‘The Prime Minister said he’s 100% confident that this 3% can be delivered. I’ve got no doubt that we can deliver that. It can be fully delivered. It’s a vision for the next 10 years… this is the way we strengthen our armed forces, and it’s the way that we make the British people safer.’<\/p>\n

But Dr Bennett does not think this is enough. He said: \u2018If we don’t immediately increase defence spending to 4% of GDP, this country may not be around in 2034.’<\/p>\n

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The UK has continued to take part in NATO exercises, as seen here in ‘Formidable Shield’ (Picture: PA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dr Bennett said those in Westminster who believe the UK can avoid a war should read Winston Churchill’s observation from 1929 in the aftermath of the First World War. <\/p>\n

He wrote: ‘The story of the human race is War. Except for brief and precarious interludes, there has never been peace in the world; and before history began, murderous strife was universal and unending.’<\/p>\n

Mr Giles added that although the defence review lays out challenges facing the UK and shares \u2018ambitious\u2019 plans to overhaul the system, fundamental questions remain. <\/p>\n

He said: \u2018How will it be implemented and how will it be paid for? Not raising defence spending to 3% long term is in conflict with some of the assumptions made by the review team – namely, that this funding is going to materialise.<\/p>\n

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Raising defence spending to 3% is fine – if it actually materialises, Mr Giles says (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018But this all depends on the willingness of the current Labour government to grip the problem of defence.\u2019<\/p>\n

A portion of the defence review focuses on raising \u2018civil awareness and resilience\u2019, which is a positive, Mr Giles believes.<\/p>\n

He said: \u2018It seems they\u2019ve recognised that there is a fundamental mission of educating Britain’s public and its voters as to the threats facing them and other UK institutions.<\/p>\n

\u2018But this comes after decades of failure by the government to not only explain that the fundamental rights and freedoms and prosperity that the UK enjoys are under threat, but also that they are worth defending.\u2019<\/p>\n

What Russian threats are facing the UK? <\/h2>\n
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Russia has previously said it views the collective West as a threat (Picture: Reuters)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Russia sees the UK as a primary adversary, particularly both historically and more recently, because of its leading role in galvanising support for Ukraine.<\/p>\n

The UK has made strides towards addressing ongoing Russian influence, including establishing the National Security Act 2023, which was set up to protect the UK from \u2018espionage, interference in the political system, sabotage, and assassination.\u2019<\/p>\n

The issue of Russian meddling in UK politics has been raised in Parliament multiple times in the past two decades \u2013 but the experts say the true extent of Russian interference on British soil hasn\u2019t been made clear to the public.<\/a><\/p>\n

Westminster whistle-blower Sergei Cristo has spent years trying to warn the UK about the ongoing threat to their democracy from Russian actors<\/a>, and previously told to Metro<\/strong>: \u2018It\u2019s up to parliament to decide what the priorities are and what the fundamental threats to democracy are. <\/p>\n

\u2018But for them to do that, we need to know where the threats have come from and in what form.’<\/p>\n

Metro <\/strong>has contacted Downing Street for comment.<\/p>\n

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

For more stories like this, <\/strong>check our news page<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The plans laid out in the Defence Review are a step in the right direction – but not enough, experts say (Pictures: Getty\/Metro) After warning that the UK must be<\/p>\n

Continue reading <\/use> <\/svg>The UK is \u2018sleepwalking into a bloody ambush and may not be around in 2034\u2019<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5983,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5981"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5981"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5981\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5989,"href":"http:\/\/burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5981\/revisions\/5989"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/burn-the-priest.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}