UK must accelerate war preparations within 1,000 days, peers warn

The UK government must accelerate preparations to ensure the country is ready for a potential war within 1,000 days, a parliamentary committee has warned, urging faster defence procurement and closer cooperation with the defence industry.

In a report published on Wednesday, the House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee said the government must move "further and faster" to strengthen Britain's defence readiness amid growing security threats from Russia and other hostile actors.

The committee warned that defence companies would struggle to respond quickly enough unless the government changed its traditional "buyer-seller" relationship with the industry and removed unnecessarily restrictive regulations.

It also called for greater certainty over government contracts to encourage investment in the defence sector.

The report urged the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to adopt a more flexible approach to procurement, arguing that its focus on administrative procedures and cost control had often delayed the delivery of military capabilities.

It recommended allowing the department to accept greater risks when purchasing new technologies, including funding multiple companies working on the same challenge to strengthen industrial capacity.

The committee also called for earlier consultation with defence companies, before technical requirements are finalised, to help the military take advantage of rapidly developing technologies.

The warning follows Defence Secretary Wes Streeting's statement that Britain must be prepared for war within 1,000 days, amid concerns over Russia's growing hybrid warfare activities against NATO.

Writing in The Telegraph last month, Streeting warned that Britain's adversaries could be ready to attack the country by 2030.

Baroness Hayter, chair of the Industry and Regulators Committee, said the government must accelerate defence reforms, embrace new technologies and strengthen the role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

She also urged the government to use the December 1 Defence Investment Summit to provide businesses with greater certainty and advance its partnership with the defence industry.

The committee welcomed the government's adoption of recommendations from the 2025 Strategic Defence Review but said further action was needed.

Meanwhile, Chancellor John Healey committed the government to increasing defence spending to 3 per cent of economic output by 2030. The next spending review is expected to outline a pathway towards the target.

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said the government was investing almost £300 billion to transform the armed forces and strengthen Britain's defence readiness.

The spokesperson added that reforms included increasing spending with SMEs by £2.5 billion and reducing barriers to help smaller British businesses secure defence contracts.

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