Defence Secretary Wes Streeting has said Britain must be ready for war within 1,000 days, writing in The Telegraph that the country's adversaries could be in a position to attack by 2030. He wrote that Britain's adversaries' willingness to harm the country is not new, but what has changed is their capacity, and that Britain has a little over 1,000 days to complete its mission: to be ready with its allies to fight and win.

Streeting said his defining priority is to make sure the country is ready to fight and win a war, adding: to prevent the worst, we have to prepare for it. In the first instance, he said, that means expanding capabilities so adversaries think twice about attacking. Should that fail, he said, Britain must ensure it is ready for war. He also spoke of state-sponsored terrorism from Russia, and of Russian hybrid warfare against NATO countries, including reported spying on Britain's undersea cables by fishing trawlers.

The Be Ready campaign

The warning follows the government's Be Ready campaign, launched days earlier, which urges every household to keep supplies for at least three days without access to a supermarket or electronic payments. The advice includes nine litres of bottled water per person, three days of non-perishable food, blankets, cash, a first-aid kit, a torch with batteries, and a wind-up FM radio. The campaign is framed for emergencies of all kinds, including severe weather, cyber attacks and disruption to critical infrastructure, not only for war.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has told the BBC the advice is not about panicking, but about taking sensible measures to have enough at home to get through a difficult period. Streeting's warning lands days before Chancellor John Healey's Budget, where defence funding remains contested: the Conservatives have demanded a funded plan for 3 per cent of GDP on defence by 2030, while Healey has said the timetable will be set out in next year's spending review. Source: LADbible, reporting The Telegraph.