The former head of MI6 has warned Britain may need to introduce some type of conscription in the wake of new international threats. It comes as concern grows over Russian activity in the North Sea, which is close to crucial energy links with continental Europe. One of Putin’s spy ships named the Yantar was detected mapping the UK’s critical underwater infrastructure in recent months as well as sensors – thought to have been planted by Russia to spy on Britain’s Vanguard nuclear submarines – which were found in waters off the coast.
Sir Alex Younger, former head of M16 and ex-spy said the Government could require powers to compel Britons to ‘give their service one way or another’. He suggested a new type of enrolment for conscription, which would stop short of full military service for all. While he’s not saying it should be a “blanket conscription,” he suggests to explore “ways in which the broader country would participate and contribute to security in a time of an emergency”.
“In extremis, I think we’d be looking at something like the model I understand exists in places like Sweden, where the government theoretically has the power to compel people to give their service one way or another, but doesn’t exercise it except in areas where it’s really needed,” he told the BBC ‘s Today Podcast.
Fears of Putin’s actions in the North Sea are high, due to nearly 40 per cent of the UK’s gas supply being imported from Norway, much of which comes through a single 700-mile Langeled pipeline, and vital telecommunications also run undersea as well. Families have been warned to pack a 72 hour ‘survival kit’ in case of a Russian attack on energy pipelines that could plunge Britain into a blackout.
Putin could sabotage the UK’s infrastructure, and if this was to happen, this is most likely when Brits could be needed for conscription. In March, Brits were warned they would be conscripted should war ever break out with Russia. Mike Martin, an Afghanistan Veteran and the Lib Dem MP for Tunbridge Wells, gave the stark warning as the war in Ukraine shows no signs of an immediate end.
Modern-day war in Britain could very similar to World War Two with secret police, curfews, strict food rations, a world affairs expert believes. He told The Express: “There’s a significant chance that it [war with Russia] might happen so we must be prepared. Obviously, if we get involved in a general war with Russia, we’ll be conscripting the population – there’s no question about that.”
It comes as Professor Anthony Glees, who is a security and intelligence expert at the University of Buckingham, told the Mirror we are now “fighting for our way of life” and will need to arm ourselves “as quickly as we can”. The world affairs expert previously told us what World War Three would look like in modern-day Britain. He believes a future war in the West would “follow the pattern of the Ukraine war”, and would look like a conventional war, rather than a nuclear one.
Prof Glees said: “I believe the chances of an armed conflict between Russia and NATO in which we would be deeply embedded are now all too real. If the next war is a nuclear war, it will be up and running in hours and over in hours. There will be no winners, only losers.
“However, if it is, as I believe, not going to be a nuclear war, then not only do things look very different – but it is entirely credible to argue it has already started.” Prof Glees predicts WW3 would progress in three stages, from Russian threats and subversion to a pro-Putin government in Westminster – if the Kremlin wins. Stage one would be ‘Threats and subversion’, stage two would be ‘Putin attacks NATO’ and stage three would be ‘a pro-Putin government’.
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