The UK should “actively prepare” for the possibility of “coming under direct threat,” according to a new national security report released by the UK government.
The report warned Brits that “we face confrontation with those who are threatening our security” and that efforts must be made to secure the UK further ahead of any military aggression.
The lengthy paper, released as British representatives attend a Nato summit this week, lays bare what seems to be growing concerns that the country could face a “wartime scenario” on UK soil in the future.
“We are in an era in which we face confrontation with those who are threatening our security,” the report read. “The most obvious and pressing example of this is Russia in its illegal war against a European neighbour. Ukrainians are paying the ultimate price as they find themselves at the frontline of this confrontation. “
It continues: “For the first time in many years, we have to actively prepare for the possibility of the UK homeland coming under direct threat, potentially in a wartime scenario.”
The national security briefing goes on to name rebel groups like the Houthis, escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, and Iran and Israel as all potentially posing risks to “energy security, the cost of living and our ability to grow our economy.”
The report comes months after the government announced plans to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent by April 2027, with plans to continue increasing that before the next parliament by potentially billions of pounds.
So is the UK preparing for war? Here’s what you need to know.
What to know about the UK’s war preparedness
Many countries worldwide have recently made efforts to boost military spending and increase their preparedness for conflict scenarios, including the UK.
US President Donald Trump has also pressed Nato countries, including the UK, to increase defence spending to 5 per cent.
This comes amid heightened tensions and regional conflicts erupting across parts of the globe - most recently Israel’s aggression toward Iran, which led to a ‘12 day war’ that eventually dragged the US into the conflict.
Nearly 80 years after the US dropped a devastating nuclear bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there are also mounting global concerns about the threat of nuclear war.
A YouGov survey from earlier this year found that 89 per cent of people in Great Britain would expect that their country would get involved if another world war broke out; however, more than half of those surveyed didn’t have very much confidence in their forces' ability to defend the country.
So, how prepared exactly is the UK for war?
Sir Keir Starmer has repeatedly spoken about increasing military spending in the UK and defending our borders and national security, and vast efforts have been made to increase army recruitment this year.
Still, according to reports from early 2025, the UK’s military is thought to be understaffed. One MOD survey found that nearly a third of UK troops were also thinking about leaving the armed forces.
Earlier this month, the government accepted several recommendations in its Strategic Defence Review (SDR) to boost the UK’s military, which included a new fleet of nuclear-powered submarines.
What is the UK military budget?
The UK spent £53.9 billion on defence from 2023 to 2024, and pledged a further £2.2 billion for 2025/26.
But the country has pledged to raise its national security spending to 5 per cent by 2035, including a 3.5 per cent spending on ‘core’ defence and 1.5 per cent on ‘resilience and security’.
According to estimates from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, an increase in core defence spending from 2.6 per cent to 3.5 per cent would cost around £30 billion more a year.
What cuts were made to fund the UK military?
Earlier this year, Starmer revealed that "extremely difficult and painful choices" had to be made to boost military spending, including a cut to foreign aid.
He said: “We will continue to play a humanitarian role in Sudan, in Ukraine and in Gaza, tackling climate change, supporting multinational efforts on global health and challenges like vaccination.”
“Nonetheless, it remains a cut and I will not pretend otherwise,” Starmer later added.
It resulted in the resignation of Labour’s Anneliese Dodds, who criticised the cuts: “Ultimately these cuts will remove food and health care from desperate people - deeply harming the UK’s reputation.”
Foreign aid cuts - enforced not just by the UK but also the US and other EU nations - have had catastrophic impacts around the world, resulting in reductions to HIV/AIDs programmes, food programmes and support in refugee camps around the world. NGOs claim that aid cuts could force more people to seek asylum in places like the UK.
Like many countries around the world, the UK is seemingly much more enthusiastic about increasing its military spending than allocating money for other things like welfare.
Starmer is facing a massive rebellion regarding welfare cuts in his reform bill, which could reduce spending by £5bn a year by slashing access to Personal Independence Payments (Pip) and incapacity benefits.
Do Brits support going to war?
The appetite for war in the UK is mixed, but many British civilians hope to maintain peace.
A 2024 poll published by UnHeard reported that “Britain doesn’t want to go to war”, and only 21 per cent of parents surveyed said they would want their children to defend the country in case of an invasion.
An Ipsos poll from May 2025 also found that 48 per cent of Britons said “there are no circumstances where they would be willing to take up arms for Britain”, while 35 per cent think there are.
More than eight decades after the last world war, many memories of the brutal warfare have long been forgotten and lost.
But, many young people also appear increasingly disenfranchised by government policies that have failed their generation, and seemingly less likely to put their lives on the line for things they disagree with.
Another YouGov poll found that more than a third of people under 40 years old would refuse conscription in the UK in the event of a world war,
