The UK lacks a plan to defend itself from a military attack, a committee of MPs has warned.
In a highly critical report, the defense committee says the UK is overly reliant on US resources and that preparations to defend itself and overseas territories in the event of an attack are “nowhere near” what they should be.
Committee chair, Labor MP Tan Dhesi, said: “Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, relentless disinformation campaigns and repeated incursions into European airspace mean we cannot afford to bury our heads in the sand.”
It comes as the Ministry of Defense (MoD) identified parts of the country where six or more new munitions factories could be built.
In June, Defense Secretary John Healey announced plans to make the UK “war ready”, including £1.5bn to support the construction of new munitions factories, which will be built by private contractors.
The government wants the UK to have an “always-on” ammunition production capacity that can be scaled up quickly.
In a speech on Wednesday, Healey will confirm plans to restart energy production (explosives, pyrotechnics and propellants) in the UK.
For the past two decades, the Ministry of Defense has obtained these materials from abroad.
Healey will say at least 1,000 new jobs will be created as the UK ramps up ammunition production.
The government wants at least six new factories to be operational by the next election in 2029, and hopes work on the first of them will begin next year.
The Ministry of Defense is exploring 13 sites where it believes new factories could be built and has named the areas of the UK where they will be located.
There are three potential sites in Scotland: in Dumfriesshire, Ayrshire and Grangemouth in Stirlingshire.
In England, a total of eight sites have been reserved (in Teesside, Cumbria, Shropshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Essex, Worcestershire and Hampshire) and there are two in Wales (in Monmouthshire and Milford Haven in Pembrokeshire).
Healey will also announce the opening of two new drone factories this week in Plymouth and Swindon.
“We are making defense an engine for growth, unequivocally supporting British jobs and skills while making the UK better prepared to fight and better able to deter future conflict,” the Defense Secretary will say.
“This is the path that guarantees national and economic security.”
The government announced earlier this year that UK defense spending would rise to 3% of GDP by 2034.
But the defense committee has warned that the UK and its European NATO allies remain too reliant on the United States and are not spending enough on their own defences.
“We therefore ask the government to assess where the UK can replace US capabilities should they be withdrawn,” Dhesi said.
“Accelerating the speed of industrial change is essential, and preparedness must be high on this Government’s agenda.”
He said the committee had “repeatedly heard concerns about the UK’s ability to defend itself from an attack”.
Calls on the government to urgently strengthen the UK’s conventional and nuclear capabilities and improve joint working with NATO allies.
He is particularly critical of what he calls the “glacial pace” of promised improvements to civil defense and resilience, saying the UK may be failing to meet its NATO Article 3 obligations to “maintain and develop individual and collective capacity to resist armed attack”.
Dhesi says the government must also deliver on its promise to better communicate with the public about “the level of threat we face and what to expect in the event of conflict.”
“Wars are not won only by generals, but the entire population supports the Armed Forces and plays its role,” he added.
