Brit kids 'must do their bit' amid threat of war in UK, government report warns
Britain has been plunged into a dangerous crisis zone 'between peace and war' with increasing attacks from hostile states led by Russia, an alarming new report reveals. And the cross-party Defence Committee has called upon Britons - including even children - to be taught measures to combat the threat, which is just below the 'threshold for war.'
Called Defence in the Grey Zone it warns we need a 'whole of society' approach to beat attacks from countries such as Russia. It warns the UK is being targeted in the 'Grey Zone' between peace and war and it is worsening daily with attacks of sabotage, espionage, cyber-attacks and disinformation campaigns.
One of the biggest threats that may still be below the threshold for all-out war, it to the UK's undersea cables linking Britain and Europe's communications to the US. And chillingly the report, out today but launched two years ago, said that: 'Recently, the speed, scale and intensity of grey zone threats in the UK has increased.'
It identifies the main and immediate threat as Russia, which has become alarmingly aggressive since the Ukraine invasion and the UK's support for Kyiv. The report reads: 'Russia's hostility has long been evident.'
'Witness the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 and the assassination attempt on Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury in 2018 using the Novichok nerve agent, but has accelerated significantly since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It argues that the MoD must help spread awareness of the threat to wider society, even dumping some responsibility for the battle on schoolchildren.
And once society has become used to the precautions it must take against hostile threats, that will leave the military to prepare for the possibility of going to war. The report says: 'Defence in the Grey Zone' urges the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to proactively engage with wider society – including businesses, schools and communities – to help generate an informed dialogue around grey zone threats to the UK and build consensus around a common response.
'The MOD could pitch this 'offer' to society, in conjunction with building cyber skills and awareness – from protecting critical national industries, and preventing ransomware attacks, to teaching school children to stay safe online. 'By sharing its crisis management expertise with other departments and wider society, the MOD can help strengthen long-term resilience planning and preparedness across the UK.
'This would also allow the Armed Forces to focus on their primary responsibility during any serious international conflict, deterring or defeating military threats. . .' The Committee argues that nobody in the UK is excluded from the daily threat which chairman, Labour MP Tan Dhesi says helps 'unsettle the fabric of our day-to-day lives.'
He added: 'Grey zone threats bring war to the doorstep of each and every one of us. These attacks do not discriminate; they target the whole of our society and so demand a whole of society response, in which we all must play our part.'
And he said the nature of this new Cold War - often called a 'hybrid war ' means the responsibility of fighting it does not just fall on the MoD. He said: 'The MOD plays an important part in defending the nation from grey zone attacks, but it is only a part.
'We must now assume that any vulnerability will be exploited against us. The industries and technologies we rely on most are clear targets for hostile states. This is why, in today's report, we are calling for a shoring up of our digital and cyber skills and protections. The report argues that often hostile states disguise the source of the attack by using proxies, such as extremist sympathisers, 'hacktivists' or criminal gangs.
These can launch cyber or sabotage attacks leaving the enemy state at arm's length.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mirror
6 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Pubs shutting helped boost far-right - 'Amazon tax' could be answer, says report
A paper released on the first anniversary of the Southport attack called for a tax on online sales to revive community spaces - as closures mean people are often isolated and alone Closures of pubs and youth centres created a 'tinderbox' for the far-right to exploit online, an alarming study has found. Experts have called for internet giants like Amazon to be hit with a tax hike to help revive high streets and community spaces. A paper published on the first anniversary of the sickening Southport murders says the loss of leisure centres, social clubs and sports facilities has led to more division as people become isolated. As a result they spend more time online and alone, and more vulnerable to fearmongers and liars, think-tank the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) found. The document found this was the case in Southport, where the pier shut in 2022. Far-right groups capitalised on Southport's "disrepair" to sow the seeds of violence, the paper says. Hundreds were arrested as violence broke out across the country in the days following the murder of three young girls, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, Bebe King, six, and Alice Da Silva Aguiar, nine. Thugs took to the streets, targeting mosques and asylum hotels and clashing with police after lies about the attack spread. The paper suggests a new Welfare Fund - with retailers paying a 2% levy on online sales, or a warehouse tax on firms like Amazon - could help revive high streets. Dr Sacha Hilhorst, author of the discussion paper, said: "The Southport riots were a wake-up call – a stark reminder of what can happen when communities lose the places that once brought people together. In the absence of shared spaces, misinformation and hate can fill the void, creating tinderbox conditions for violence. "Rebuilding local infrastructure isn't just about nostalgia – it's a vital bulwark against division and the dangerous pull of the far right." It is estimated that 50 pubs close for good in the UK every month, while around 600 youth clubs shut between 2012 and 2016. Just one in 40 Britons are now part of a social club, the IPPR analysis found - down from one in 10 in the early 2000s. Dr Parth Patel, associate director at the IPPR, said: "The far right is exploiting the void where solidarity used to live – they capitalised on Southport's disrepair to sow disorder. If we're serious about social renewal, we must rebuild the civic infrastructure that once helped people support each other and shape their communities." In June the Government pledged £5million to redevelop Southport's Town Hall Gardens in memory of the victims of the attack. Evil Axel Rudakubana, who was known to security services before the vicious killings, left eight children and two adults seriously injured.
The Herald Scotland
13 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Why we must keep humans at the heart of AI in warfare
Since 2016, discussions of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons Group of Governmental Experts on LAWS have been ongoing, but International Humanitarian Law (IHL) still lacks any specific, binding regulations relating to AI. As noted by International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) President Mirjana Spoljaric, AI in war is 'no longer an issue for tomorrow', but rather 'an urgent humanitarian priority today', requiring the immediate 'negotiation of new legally binding international rules'. Accordingly, United Nations Secretary General António Guterres recommended, in his 2023 New Agenda for Peace, that 'a legally binding instrument' to prohibit and/or regulate AI weapons be concluded by 2026. Read more The ICRC has stressed that responsibility in warfare must remain with humans. 'Human control must be maintained,' it argues, and limits on autonomy urgently established 'to ensure compliance with international law and to satisfy ethical concerns'. In 2022, the MoD itself echoed this sentiment. It stated that only human soldiers 'can make instinctive decisions on the ground in a conflict zone; improvise on rescue missions during natural disasters; or offer empathy and sympathy.' The then Defence Secretary Ben Wallace added that 'at its heart, our Army relies on the judgment of its own individuals.' A recruitment campaign at the time carried the tagline: 'Technology will help us do incredible things. But nothing can do what a soldier can do.' Colonel Nick Mackenzie, then Assistant Director for Recruitment, highlighted that, while 'technology is really, really important… there is always somebody, a person, behind that technology,' who is ultimately responsible for its use and the decisions it enables. Since then, however, the use of AI-enabled rapid target identification systems in contemporary conflicts has grown rapidly, with notable examples being Lavender and Where's Daddy (Israel/Palestine), Saker and Wolly (Russia/Ukraine). A human being is generally still required in order to engage any lethal effects, but technological capabilities are already being developed to remove human input from the targeting process altogether. Against this backdrop, the MoD's Strategic Defence Review 2025, released last month, calls for 'greater use of autonomy and Artificial Intelligence within the UK's conventional forces' to deliver 'greater accuracy, lethality, and cheaper capabilities'. 'As in Ukraine,' the Review continues, 'this would provide greater accuracy, lethality, and cheaper capabilities – changing the economics of defence.' One example is Project ASGARD, which will help the Army locate and strike enemy targets at greater distances using AI as a 'force multiplier'. This is just one of over 400 AI-related projects being run by the MoD. What remains unclear, but is critical from a legal and moral perspective, is what role human judgment will play in these projects and the military operations they support. Computer scientist Pei Wang has said that while AI can behave like human intelligence in some ways, it is fundamentally different. AI shouldn't replace human intelligence, but rather support and enhance it – helping people make better-informed decisions. Human-robot interaction specialist Karolina Zawieska warns of the need to distinguish between what is human and what is only human-like. AI systems often function as a 'black box', meaning it is not always clear how or why they produce certain outcomes. This creates serious problems for human understanding, control, and accountability. When properly used, AI can support situational awareness and help human operators make better decisions. In this sense, it is a tool – not a decision-maker. But if too much control is handed over to AI, we risk removing human judgment and with it, moral responsibility. Professor Jeff McMahan, moral philosopher at the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict, has argued that it is essential for combatants to feel 'deep inhibitions about tackling non-combatants'. However accurate or efficient AI may be, these inhibitions cannot be replicated by algorithms. As political scientist Valerie Morkevičius has pointed out, the emotional and moral 'messiness' of war is a feature, not a flaw because it slows down violence and prompts ethical reflection. Military decisions should be difficult. This is why human judgment must remain at the centre. While defence and national security are reserved for Westminster, Scotland plays a key role in UK defence, from the bases at Faslane and Lossiemouth to the defence research carried out at Scottish universities. The issues raised in the Strategic Defence Review therefore carry particular relevance here. UN Secretary General António Guterres has recommended that 'a legally binding instrument' to prohibit and/or regulate AI weapons be concluded by 2026 (Image: Getty) Scotland's approach to AI, shaped by the AI Strategy (2021) and the Scottish AI Playbook (2024), is notably human-centred. Informed by Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) principles, both documents stress the importance of trustworthy, ethical, and inclusive AI that improves people's lives. They highlight the need for transparency, human control, and robust accountability. Though not military in scope, these principles nevertheless offer a useful framework for a Scottish perspective on the development and use of AI for military purposes: keeping people at the centre, and ensuring that technology supports rather than replaces human agency. The goal should not be the delegation of human decisions to machines, or the replacement of human beings with technology. Rather, AI should support and strengthen human decision-making – a tool for the enactment of human agency: a technological means for strictly human ends. Dr Joanna LD Wilson is a Lecturer in Law at the University of the West of Scotland
Scottish Sun
15 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Councillor ‘reported to cops for racial hatred' after asking if homeless vets will get same support as migrants in hotel
It comes after details of a billion-pound Government cover-up were revealed ASYLUM HOTEL FURY Councillor 'reported to cops for racial hatred' after asking if homeless vets will get same support as migrants in hotel Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A COUNCILLOR who asked if homeless veterans could also be housed in migrant hotels was allegedly reported to cops for "stirring up hate". Cllr John Edwards claims he was "smeared" after he questioned Bracknell Forest Council's decision to house more than 300 Afghan migrants in four-star hotels in favour of hard-hit locals. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 5 Cllr Edwards said his reputation had been harmed, despite his claims of a cover-up turning out to be true Credit: Conservatives 5 The Government was forced to cover up the relocation of thousands of Afghans after a major MOD email blunder Credit: AP 5 Cllr Edwards called for migrants to be treated with 'respect and dignity', but admitted he was worried for residents Credit: PA The independent councillor, who serves on Sandhurst Town Council, was reportedly put under investigation after he called for more clarity when hundreds of Afghans were placed in local hotels. He was allegedly reported by Labour councillor Cherise Welch, who accused him of "stirring up hate" after he suggested that key information was being withheld from Berkshire residents. But it has since been revealed that the Government secretly relocated thousands of Afghans to the UK following a major Ministry of Defence email blunder. Writing on his Facebook in April, Cllr Edwards called for the migrants to be treated with "respect and dignity", but admitted he was worried for the knock-on effect for desperate residents. He said: "Bracknell is resettling over 300 Afghans in a local hotel—and I don't believe residents are being told the full story. "I'm increasingly concerned that key information is either being withheld or presented in a way that makes it difficult to see how unfair this scheme is. "I want to make it clear that everyone arriving on this scheme must be treated with respect and dignity. But I also believe it's completely reasonable to ask what impact this scheme will have on our area. "If the money is there to house Afghans in a four-star hotel, why aren't any of the Labour, Lib Dem or Conservative councillors asking why this hasn't been provided for Bracknell's veterans or residents first? "As a Town Councillor, I felt compelled to look into this and speak up, because no other elected representative was." In response, Cllr Welch suggested the post was "complete nonsense", adding she had reported him to "the MOD, Council and local police". Others accused the concerned councillor of "spreading far-right propaganda" and targeting "specific ethnic groups". Speaking to the MailOnline, Cllr Edwards explained he had not been contacted by the police, but said his reputation had been harmed, despite his claims of a cover-up turning out to be true. Defence chiefs braced for £1BILLION compensation bill over Afghan data leak scandal He added: "The council has fuelled a narrative that I'm spreading hate and misinformation, despite my claims being true. "Another councillor has said publicly they have reported me to the police for stirring racial hatred. "It's stressful and potentially very harmful to my reputation. 'It's a way to smear and silence me, and it has a chilling effect which amounts to, 'disagree with the council and you will be call a racist'." He posted pictures of the interior and exterior facilities in the hotel, blurring out the background to conceal the location. But he was also accused of identifying the hotel by posting the images, which he strongly denies. Earlier this month, it emerged that almost 20,000 Afghans had been secretly relocated to the UK after a major Ministry of Defence error. The February 2022 leak was caused by a Special Forces soldier who accidentally shared a list of 18,714 people who had applied to flee to Britain in the wake of the 2021 Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. The list also included names of their individual UK sponsors including SAS and MI6 spies and at least one Royal Marine Major General. The clumsy click has potential to be the most expensive data breach in history. A total of 18,714 Afghans were included on the secret list, many of whom arrived via unmarked planes which landed at Stansted airport. Although Defence Secretary John Healey has said that the cost of relocating the Afghans and their families will total £400 million, the final cost could be even higher. The information was kept a secret for 18 months through a superinjunction used by the MoD – the first time one had been used by the Government against the press. Around 100,000 were put at risk of Taliban death squads when their names or loved ones were revealed in 2022 — with the blunder then 'covered up' by the gagging order. Almost 900 Afghans on the 'kill list' email leak are ready to sue — with lawyers saying thousands more are poised to join them. Legal sources claimed victims whose lives were endangered could be entitled 'to five-figure payouts'. Councillor Welch has been approached for comment. 5 Cllr John Edwards was reported to the police for questioning the decision to house Afghans over locals Credit: Facebook / Cllr John Edwards
