Still fiddling while Rome burns

At the Labour party conference this week, Andy Burnham has made some momentous promises.  He’s going to end the pension triple lock; create a national care service for England that will make social care free for all; reform the voting system; and reopen negotiations for Britain to rejoin the EU.  His pledge is that he will put Britain on a new path, dealing with the social care crisis, and giving us all hope.

Question: What is the point of introducing an NHS style social care system for all, if the country it’s designed to benefit no longer exists?

No, this is not facetious.  The threats against our island and national autonomy are increasing – what feels to be almost hourly – and top military leaders have warned repeatedly that the UK could very shortly find itself at war. For example, Chief of the Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, said recently that we are living in the most dangerous time he has ever known over the course of his life, and that the risks and threats now facing Britain are greater than at any time since the Cold War.

But the problem doesn’t end there, because should the unthinkable happen, and we come under attack, military analysts all agree that we are woefully unprepared. And couldn’t defend ourselves.  For a start, combined figures for our army, navy, and airforce are significantly smaller than they were in 2023.  In April this year, the number of armed forces personnel stood at 148,600 – a small improvement on the previous year … but many of these have yet to receive basic training. The low numbers are, in fact, seen as so concerning that a major mobilisation exercise is now being planned for 2027, to practise recalling, testing and  deploying Britain’s 95,000 strong Strategic Reserve veterans for conflict.

This is serious.  But even this isn’t an end to the problems, because, quite apart from the numbers of boots we can put on the ground, military chiefs and defence experts also warn that we don’t have enough arms, weapons, or other equipment – including ships with fighting capability, drones, ballistic missiles, and jets, to counter any threat. The cupboard, in fact, seems to be pretty much bare.

And let us not forget the public – that’s you and me – because the message has gone out in recent weeks that we too need to prepare for war.  In particular, should the country’s communications go down and our food supply be disrupted, we are being asked to store food and water for emergency use.  But that’s surely only a start, and potential dangers will not be dealt with by fear, indecision, or pretending they’re not there. Rather, we need robust preparation, so that whatever the enemy throws at us, we are ready!

Cyberattack, engineered civil unrest, external invasion and attack … why, when we are facing all these threats, did Andy Burnham not mention them in his speech, and commit the country to spending more on defence?  Why did he not announce a major civil defence programme, to prepare the general public and keep us safe in face of attack.

A social care package is all very well, Andy, but it’s not going to help if and when the nation comes under attack and all care, social or otherwise, collapses.   If we fall then, who’s going to pick up the pieces?