UK has a plan in case of war - media

The UK government has moved to develop an emergency plan in case of war. According to SkyNews, London is seeing increasing pressure from Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, and the level of hostile intelligence activity against the British armed forces and the Ministry of Defence has risen by more than 50% in just one year.

Indeed, the junior minister for veterans' affairs, Alistair Carnes, has said that the country is actually beginning to reassemble its defence preparedness system. A new counter-intelligence service is already being created, and army, navy, air force and defence special forces are being merged into a single structure, the Military Intelligence Service.

Karnes stressed that the government is now carrying out a large-scale work: from the Cabinet of Ministers to public institutions are discussing how the country should function in the event of a full-scale conflict and what role each citizen will play in it.

The official noted that many Britons do not realise the threat, although Russia's war against Ukraine is already affecting fuel prices and general security.

We need to explain to people the reality of what is happening - not to scare them, but to make them understand where the threats are coming from and why defence and participation of the whole society is so important," he said.

The newspaper points out that Britain used to have a detailed plan for the transition from peace to war - the government's so-called War Book. It spelt out instructions for everyone: the army, police, schools, hospitals and even museums. But after the end of the Cold War, the document was recognised as too costly and was shelved. Now the authorities are actually creating its modern version.