An “Iron Dome” could be required to protect London from missile attacks, says a former UK National Security Adviser.
Lord Sedwill, who also served as Cabinet Secretary from April 2018 to September 2020, stressed that Britain must boost its defences in an increasingly dangerous world.
“We certainly need proper air defences,” he told The Standard.
“An Iron Dome over the whole country is probably not practical but over key cities and military facilities could be.
“The Gulf countries have developed systems quite like that.”
The best known “Iron Dome” is the one built by Israel to intercept short-range rockets, shells and mortars.
Defensive batteries, with three or four launchers armed with 20 interceptor missiles, aim to down hostile projectiles at ranges of between two miles and around 40 miles from the units.
Lord Sedwill’s comments came after Iran fired two missiles at the joint UK-US Diego Garcia military base, some 2,400 miles away on the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean.
The attack failed but it sparked warnings that Tehran might now be able to hit London, as well as other European capitals.
Both Donald Trump’s administration and Israel have claimed that Tehran could now strike London, as they seemingly sought to cajole Sir Keir Starmer’s government into increasing support for the military action against Iran.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said: “They (Iran) shot two failed missiles on a target 4,000km (2,485 miles) away.
“For years, they told the world that their missiles could only range two (thousand) kilometres (1,242 miles). Surprise. Yet again, Iran lie.
“And to the world. I say London is 4,000km from Iran.”
The Israeli Defence Forces stressed: “We have been saying it: The Iranian terrorist regime poses a global threat.
“Now, with missiles that can reach London, Paris or Berlin.”
Cabinet ministers insist that a missile fired from Iran at the UK would be shot down by Nato defences over eastern Europe.
But former Armed Forces Minister Lord Spellar has warned that London is “very vulnerable” to a missile attack by Iran-backed jihadists based in North Africa.
Lord Sedwill, who was UK National Security Adviser from April 2017 to Sept 2020, stressed the need for the UK to rapidly invest “serious” money into bolstering Britain’s armed forces to defend the homeland and allies under the Nato umbrella.
While the focus is currently on the threat from Iran, defence ministers and other military experts say that Russia poses the greatest risk to the UK as Vladimir Putin’s regime engages increasingly in “grey warfare,” including targeting the UK’s underwater cables and other infrastructure.
Former Nato chief Lord Robertson believes Trump’s war in the Middle East must be a “rude wake-up call” for the Government to swiftly boost defence spending.
He described the UK as “underprepared” for war due to the “ever-expanding welfare budget” and “corrosive complacency” from Sir Keir Starmer’s government.
“We are under attack. We are not safe,” said the former Labour Defence Secretary who led the Government’s Strategic Defence Review.
“Britain’s national security and safety is in peril.”
He accused “non-military experts in the Treasury” of “vandalism” and said there was a gap between the Prime Minister’s rhetoric on defence and the action he had delivered.
Referring to Trump’s criticism of Nato, the former Secretary General of the military alliance said: “Recent days have shown that the role and priorities of the United States have shifted, and will never be the same again.”
The Government has committed to spend 2.5% of gross domestic product on defence by 2027, increasing to 3% in the next parliament and a Nato-agreed target of 3.5% by 2035.
Sir Keir told MPs on Monday that the Government is working to finalise the defence investment plan but he did not want to repeat the mistakes of previous administrations because “we inherited plans that were unfunded and not deliverable”.
Downing Street rejected Lord Robertson’s claim that national security was in peril.
A Government spokesman said: “We are delivering on the Strategic Defence Review to meet the threats we face.
“It is backed by the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War, with a total of over £270 billion being invested across this Parliament.
“We are finalising our defence investment plan that we will publish as soon as possible, putting the best kit and technology into the hands of our forces, rebuilding British industry to make defence an engine for growth and doubling down on our own commitment to Nato.”
The head of the Royal Navy, First Sea Lord General Sir Gwyn Jenkins, told MPs: “The only thing I can say from the inside is this could not be taken more seriously at the moment.
“I see no sign of complacency amongst anybody that I work with or provide advice to.”
But Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch backed Lord Robertson’s comments, telling BBC radio: “We used to spend one in every seven pounds on welfare.
“Now it’s one in every three pounds and a lot of that money has basically been swapped for defence.
“The world is not as peaceful as it used to be. The peace dividend that existed after the fall of the Berlin Wall is gone, we need to spend more money on defence.”
