Britain’s defence leaders are elitist snobs who sneer at the public

Full story here: In defence circles, conversation has for months been dominated by the upcoming [Defence Investment Plan](https://inews.co.uk/news/uk-not-ready-war-russia-stark-warning-4343515?srsltid=AfmBOor9_MDyrEno-q5skZmyoI6sdZblZcz9xJ12ni9g6Z9BvryR8BlR&ico=in-line_link) – a now semi-mythical document that has achieved totemic status.

The plan is expected to set out the Government’s funding priorities for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and, as such, is watched with eager eyes by everyone in the defence sector. The fact that it has been delayed, repeatedly, since last autumn is indicative of the Government’s carefree attitude towards national defence.

Former Labour defence secretary Lord Robertson’s [major intervention](https://inews.co.uk/opinion/starmer-denial-funding-28bn-black-hole-defences-4353968?srsltid=AfmBOortw3ajZBJ6XWiGE96-yxzlp6aZDbkz_dYoPWC_5exB1EcUEkIW&ico=in-line_link) this month on the Government’s “corrosive complacency” was welcome, but there is no real sense yet that it will shift the dial in No 10 or the Treasury.

However, an almost greater failure of the Government, considering that it would have cost relatively little in the grand scheme of things, is the complete lack of the “national conversation on defence” promised in the [Strategic Defence Review](https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/britain-must-ready-itself-for-war-strategic-defence-review-to-say-3688107?srsltid=AfmBOorNSQbGqgx0Yinzox4Dw-Xi7RLU757ESOexvdraucaP4s5RiHid&ico=in-line_link) last year.

Wars are fought by societies. Our history teaches us this – from the struggle against Napoleon to the two World Wars – as does the [current war in Ukraine](https://inews.co.uk/topic/russia-ukraine-war?srsltid=AfmBOoo-wey0TwfgIg9eaFfKMeFUJsq0795UyVXi59tiKRmNSc0V7c1i&ico=in-line_link), which I recently visited to view a modern wartime society in action. Broad participation from all levels of society is required to sustain any national war effort.

After the haphazard efforts of the First World War, for example, the UK made conscious efforts to set up volunteer civil defence organisations, which then went on to perform heroic work during the Blitz.

In [Ukraine](https://inews.co.uk/topic/ukraine?srsltid=AfmBOoqM13FK3UEIfcrSwkjWq6wBa1E1ywtURb6HIXFDhsdgwmr9fObM&ico=in-line_link), many societal resilience efforts were started by ordinary citizens and innovative companies who saw an urgent need and tried to solve the problem themselves, either post-2014 or in the immediate aftermath of [Vladimir Putin’s](https://inews.co.uk/topic/vladimir-putin?srsltid=AfmBOooht64JztQCTTuvtHvGZBzGQhZ-4dLfrpsGmB_E-FSbW5yFp1Ms&ico=in-line_link) full-scale invasion.