In 1939 my great-grandfather stood up in his pulpit and said:

“It’s not enough merely to hold in check the evil.Our civilization will surely crumble to pieces if the only peace it knows is a peace of exhaustion followed by fresh outbreaks of brutal violence every 20 years or so.

The sacrifices and sufferings of those who fought against aggression in 1914 must not have been in vain. But as we fling ourselves into this conflict, let us remember this time that it will not be enough merely to defeat and frustrate the powers of evil.

The harder task, the more searching task, will remain for those who survive the conflict.”

As a mother, and I know I speak for every one, the right answer is to keep our children from having to go to war by holding back those evil men wanting to attack us.

So our challenge must be getting the UK into a state of war readiness, prepared and, if done well, effective in deterring war.

What does that mean? Investing now so that the lives and livelihoods of our citizens don’t feel under threat, because we have protected ourselves adequately.

Right now that isn’t the case, as disruption to the Strait of Hormuz, or the immediate energy price hikes of the Ukraine war back in 2022 demonstrated. The attack by invisible enemy Covid19 in 2020 led to economic impacts estimated at up to 6% of GDP, the loss of many precious lives, & a long tail of debt from furlough and the costs of delivering vaccines and healthcare, which we are still battling today.

Not being prepared costs.

Be under no illusions - Covid had a small impact compared to the threat of war in Europe and beyond. It will always be cheaper (& more lives-saving) to deter by investing early in preparedness.

From domestic household planning for the small unexpected events, to government having the right kit & skilled resource in place - “just in case” should be the mindset at every level of our country. Mums do this every single day. Government needs to be doing it too.

So how do we re-set ourselves into a Prepared & Pre-War mindset?

The machinery of government will only change gear and accept new directives from its politicians if legislation orders it. The status quo won't deliver what's needed.

I have had more arguments with senior officials than I care to remember where they told me there was no need to legislate, because reform would fix it. But turkeys just don’t vote for Christmas. And so redistributing priorities will never come from them. The Covid Act drove the unlocking changes needed to fight that invisible enemy. Clear orders from Parliament to the citizens’ delivery agents - from healthcare to military, finance to data management.

The machinery of government will only change course and remove barriers to speedy delivery if the PM gives the order.

So if we are in a pre-war state, that order needs to be as an Act of Parliament directing priorities to national resilience & protection, alongside hard power investment to restore our credible deterrence and NATO commitments.

How do we fund the shift into protecting all our critical national infrastructure, protecting our sea lanes, ports and transport networks, assuring our energy import supply lines and guarding our undersea cables on which the financial services which generate most of our wealth rely?

We fund the investments needed with a national effort - where every industry in need of protection chips in a bit and a framework of hypothecated taxes directs funds to security and military delivery through the UK industrial defence & tech base.

Trust and invest within our own borders for the hard power capabilities we need to get into a credible deterrent posture, build up our allies-based supply chains, & be unafraid to bring every citizen into the conversation about being part of a whole of country preparedness.

Former colleagues have continually said “oh we shouldn’t frighten people”. They fail to understand our communities, our friends & neighbours, & their resilience.

Getting ahead of a threat is the better solution, & they will be cross, not anxious, if we don’t get ahead of these present-day threats to their families’ security and well-being. My great-grandfather’s parisioners would all agree.