The United Kingdom is "rapidly developing" plans to prepare the entire country for a possible outbreak of war, the armed forces minister has announced.
Underlining the role that civilians will have to play in a major conflict, Al Carns said that armies, navies and air forces respond to crises, but "societies, industries and economies win wars."
"The shadow of war is knocking again on Europe's door. This is the reality. We must be prepared to prevent it."
His comments come after Mark Rutte, the head of NATO, told allies that Europe must prepare for a confrontation with Russia on the scale that "our grandparents and great-grandparents endured" - a reference to the First and Second World Wars, writes. sky news.
In a threat indicator, Britain revealed that the level of hostile intelligence activity - such as espionage, hacking and physical threats - against its armed forces and Ministry of Defence has increased by more than 50% over the past year.
Russia, China, Iran and North Korea are suspected of being the main culprits.
The government is now launching a new defensive counterintelligence unit to strengthen its ability to detect and disrupt intelligence operations by hostile states.
It has also taken steps to enhance the Ministry of Defense's espionage capabilities by combining the various branches of military intelligence across the army, navy, and air force, as well as Defense Intelligence, into a new organization called the Military Intelligence Services. /Telegraph/
