Streeting warns Britain has just over 1,000 days to be ready to fight and win a war

Defence Secretary Wes Streeting has warned Britain has “a little over 1,000 days” to be ready to fight and win a war, writing in The Telegraph on Saturday that adversaries could be in a position to attack by 2030.

“My defining priority… is to make sure that this country is ready to fight and win a war,” Streeting wrote. “To prevent the worst, we have to prepare for it. In the first instance, that means expanding our capabilities so our adversaries think twice about attacking us. Should that fail, we must ensure that Britain is ready for war.”

“Our adversaries’ willingness to harm us is not new,” he continued. “What has changed is their capacity. By 2030, their force strength and war economy could put them in a position to attack. That gives us a little over 1,000 days to complete our mission: be ready, with our allies, to fight and win.”

Streeting’s warning follows the start of the UK’s “Be Ready” campaign, which urges households to stock at least three days of essential supplies, according to The Telegraph. He also defended the government’s defence spending, writing that he is “100 percent confident” Britain will meet its NATO spending target under Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Chancellor John Healey, and accused the Conservatives of leaving Britain with “the smallest army since the Napoleonic Wars”.

Former army chief General Sir Patrick Sanders also told The Telegraph the world had become “as dangerous, if not more dangerous, than it was in the Cold War”, adding: “I don’t know what more signals we need for us to realize that if we don’t act now and we don’t act in the next five years to increase our resilience.”

Sources: The Jerusalem Post (reporting Streeting’s Telegraph column, 25 October 2026); BriefTea (reporting The Independent’s account of the same column).