Britain’s former defense ministers believe that Britain failed in the Russian War

Britain has failed to prepare for war in a ‘whole-nation endeavour’, ex-defence ministers have warned – as Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine sparks fears of an all-out conflict with Russia.

Outgoing armed forces minister James Heappey revealed that only Ministry of Defence (MoD) officials turned up to an exercise to prepare for wartime scenarios which was meant for the whole of Government.

He called on ministers to do more to prepare for conflict just weeks after resigning his MoD post.

Ben Wallace, the Conservative former defence secretary, agreed with his colleague, and said too many in Government were ‘just hoping everything will go away’.

Writing in the Telegraph newspaper, Mr Heappey said the UK was behind allies who had taken steps to reinforce citizens’ preparedness for war.

He gave the example of Sweden, where the government has handed out a booklet explaining what to do in a time of war, including which emergency food provisions to store.