A security expert has warned the ‘whole of the nation’ should prepare for the possibility of conscription within six years, as fears grow Britain could become embroiled in a wider conflict Russia
Brits could face being called up to fight in a potential World War Three, with the “whole of the nation” warned to brace for conscription within six years. Security and intelligence expert Professor Anthony Glees delivered the stark warning amid growing concerns that Britain could become entangled in a wider conflict with Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
The University of Buckingham academic stated the “whole of the nation” should be prepared for the prospect of conscription, while urging the Government to begin recruiting volunteers.
Professor Glees said: “The UK Government should plan to sign up volunteers now and over the next three years and ‘the whole of the nation’ should prepare for conscription within six years unless Putin were defeated.”
His warning followed comments from the then-head of the British Army, General Sir Patrick Sanders, who stated that the UK needed to ready its population for the possibility of a major conflict.
Professor Glees drew parallels between Britain’s current predicament and that of 1937, two years prior to the outbreak of the Second World War.
This echoed earlier remarks from Sir Patrick, who had characterised the challenges confronting the West in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a “1937 moment”, reports the Express.
Sir Patrick stopped short of calling for conscription but argued that a significant shift was required in the manner in which ordinary Britons approached defence and readiness for conflict.
Instead, he called for a Finnish-style “citizen army” of roughly 500,000 personnel, comprising regular soldiers, reservists and eventually volunteers and ordinary members of the public.
Professor Glees suggested that a more restricted form of conscription could also become a viable option.
He said: “I would see a ‘limited conscription’, a call-up of incentivised volunteers, as being very much on the cards if Putin is now thrown out of Ukraine.
“Obviously, if there were a wider European or world war, conscription would follow at once.
“Putin has repeatedly said he wants the post-1997 NATO states to be disarmed and brought back into the Russia orbit, re-creating the system of satellites that was the strategic policy of the USSR.
“There’s not a snowball’s chance in hell of Putin just going away.”
The remarks came after mounting warnings from senior NATO figures regarding the prospect of a future showdown with Russia.
Admiral Rob Bauer, then chairman of NATO’s Military Committee, cautioned that civilians would also need to play a part should a major conflict break out.
He argued a vast numbers of ordinary people could be mobilised and governments needed to plan for such an eventuality.
At the time, then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak firmly stated that conscription was not on the table.
The UK Government has continued to dismiss any return to compulsory military service, confirming as recently as October that there are “no current plans to reintroduce National Service”.
The UK continues to depend on its professional regular and reserve Armed Forces, though efforts are currently under way to explore how the nation could deploy greater numbers of personnel during a future crisis or conflict.