‘The UK contribution to European Security’ is a pretty dry name. Yet the new publication contains a key proposal to militarise the UK even further. The Defence Committee document, released today, 19 November, covers a lot. UK-NATO relations, military industry, over-reliance on an erratic America: it’s all there.

But ‘homeland defence’ is also among its considerations. In some ways, this isn’t new. The report is hyping the threat of an invasion. There’s a long history of invasion fantasy in Britain, an entire literary genre even grew out of it. And it’s possible this is a perfectly natural outcome of having invaded all but 22 countries.

Obedient as ever, the legacy press led with a fear-mongering angle today:

The BBC: “UK lacks plan to defend itself from invasion, MPs warn”.LBC: “Britain has no plan to defend itself from invasion as minister reveals plan to invest in armed forces”.The Sun: “UK ‘is not ready’ to defend itself from military attack, bombshell report claims”The Telegraph: Britain not ready to defend itself*The Express*: ‘Wake-up call’ as Britain not ready to defend itself, chilling report warns

And the report comes with more than little incidental drama. In an address to the press this morning, Defence Secretary John Healey said the alleged Russian spy ship Yantar had tried to ‘blind’ UK military pilots with ‘lasers’:

BREAKING: Defence secretary John Healey says British forces were hit by lasers while tracking a Russian spy ship on the edge of UK waters north of Scotland.https://t.co/P3KxMSLHAM

Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/1CKIXFFhgd

— Sky News (@SkyNews) November 19, 2025

It’s worth bearing in mind the Yantar’s presence is nothing new. She is a regular sight in UK and European waters and has been near the UK for weeks during this deployment. Hardly an invasion.

Healey was careful to describe the Yantar as being in the UK’s ‘wider waters’. Which seems to be a sly way of saying it was in international waters – and therefore not breaking any laws or norms. He presented no evidence of the ‘laser’ attack.

UK defence secretary is doing a lot of baying for war

But what are the dangers? China is high among the UK’s official enemies. But the chances of it invading seem vanishingly small. The threat of Russia is reported everyday. But Putin, embroiled in a massive war in Ukraine, is a little busy.

Yet the report, authored by a cross-section of MPs, claims “cross-government working on homeland defence and resilience is nowhere near where it needs to be”.

It concludes that despite the Government repeatedly saying that we are in an era of new threat, decision-making is slow and opaque. Today’s report is critical of the Cabinet Office’s leadership in this area, saying that it appears inward focused.

It also recommends the government produce:

a public timetable on the generation of the Home Defence Programme and reiterates its call for the Government to create a Minister of Homeland Security, with responsibility for the Home Defence Programme, the Resilience Action Plan and a public engagement strategy.

NATO’s Article 3 obliges the UK to organise homeland defence. The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) has speculated this may take the form of a Home Guard “led by the Army”. It would be “armed and equipped, implying “military status” and “legal authority for use of violence against an aggressor”.

Nobody can seriously suggest the world isn’t currently very dangerous. But the fact is the likelihood of an ‘invasion’ is small. Nevertheless, threats are being hype virtually daily by committees and ministers alike. And needless to say, there there is no mention of off-the-leash militarism of our allies: the US and Israel.

Featured image via the Canary

By Joe Glenton

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