Britain preparing for attacks on its soil; critics say it must move faster

Britain’s last military force dedicated to defending the homeland was disbanded in 1992, after NATO leaders hailed a “promising era” of peace in Europe at the end of the Cold War and the government began scaling back military spending.

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More than three decades later, Britain is again preparing for potential attacks on its soil.

With NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte telling allies in December that “conflict is at our door”, Russia saying it is “ready” for war with Europe and US President Donald Trump’s increasingly vocal hostility towards European leaders, the British government is developing what it calls a “whole of society approach to deterrence and defence”.

It says that a wide-ranging home defence programme will bring together the military, police and government departments to prepare for multiple scenarios.

While a land invasion is not considered likely, military experts at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a British defence research institute, said the war in Ukraine and a spate of hybrid attacks in Europe demonstrate the possibility of assaults on critical infrastructure, through sabotage and drones.

Some military experts and lawmakers think the government is not moving fast enough.

“We are not ready - firstly in terms of resisting an armed attack, but also in terms of the wider threats,” said Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, a Labour Party lawmaker who chairs the British Parliament’s defence committee.

He pointed towards the cutting of undersea cables and a steady drumbeat of Russia-backed cyber attacks.