‘The front is here’: UK government begins preparing country for potential conflict

02 June 2025 , 16:42

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Launching the Strategic Defence Review in Glasgow, the Prime Minister said it was a ‘moment of danger and threat for our country’

Britain must “prepare for conflict” by moving to be war ready to deter an attack by Vladimir Putin or other adversary, says Sir Keir Starmer.

The Prime Minister stressed that the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) aimed to keep the peace by strengthening the UK’s military and discouraging attacks on the homeland and its allies.

“The world has changed and we are entering a new era when it comes to defence and security,” Sir Keir told BBC radio.

“Hence, I wanted a review that told me the challenges that we are actually facing and likely to face...and what we needed to adjust to be ready.

“The principles are clear; war fighting readiness, integrating our forces and a Nato-first approach.”

He added: “If you want to deter conflict, then the best way to do that is to prepare for conflict...and therefore this is intended to do what Nato has so successfully done for 80 years which is to continue the peace by preparing for conflict and being ready.”

Launching the SDR in Glasgow, Sir Keir said it was a “moment of danger and threat for our country”.

He emphasised: “Every part of society, every citizen of this country, has a role to play because we have to recognise that things have changed.

“In the world of today, the front line, if you like, is here.”

The Government was expected to accept in full the 62 recommendations in the SDR which include:

Building up to 12 new nuclear-powered attack submarines and investing £15 billion in its warhead programme.
Preparing the armed forces for war “readiness” partly by reversing the trend of more soldiers leaving the army than joining it.
Boosting weapons and equipment stockpiles and ensuring capacity to scale up production if needed for war.
New direct energy weapons for Royal Navy destroyers to shoot down missiles heading for Britain.
Buying up to 7,000 UK-built long-range weapons.
A new cyber command and investing £1 billion in digital capabilities
More than £1.5 billion of additional funding to repair and renew armed forces housing.

The Government has pledged to increase defence spending to 2.5% by 2027 but has stopped short of guaranteeing that it will rise to 3% by 2034, stressing that this was dependent on the public finances.

Armed forces minister Luke Pollard insisted that he had “no doubt” the 3% figure would be achieved as he gave more details of the SDR.

“We are investing in new capabilities such as the directed energy weapons that we will be installing on Royal Navy destroyers to be able to shoot down missiles and threats to our naval assets and to the UK homeland...precisely that type of investment that should give Putin cause for concern, to make him think again about threatening the UK,” he stressed.

Directed energy weapons use focused energy, like lasers or microwaves, to damage or disrupt targets without using a physical projectile.