Wes Streeting warns Britain must be ready for war in 1,000 days as Russia fears erupt

Earlier this week, Labour rolled out its ‘Be Ready’ preparedness campaign, urging Britons to begin stockpiling tinned food and bottled water.

Now, writing in The Telegraph, Mr Streeting said his “defining priority” was to make sure the country was “ready to fight and win a war”.

“That is the only metric that counts,” he added.

According to Mr Streeting, Britons should prepare for the worst. His resilience campaign advises Britons to have three days’ worth of supplies in case of emergency.

“To prevent the worst, we have to prepare for it,” he said.

“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.”

But Labour has already come under criticism for not setting out how it will reach John Healey’s target of spending three per cent of GDP on defence by 2030, a key point before Nato’s target of 3.5 per cent by 2035.

The Defence Secretary claimed he was “100 per cent” confident Andy Burnham and the Chancellor would be able to meet the 2035 Nato target.

His remarks echo Mr Healey’s from earlier this year, who also insisted he was “100 per cent committed” to his own target.

However, in a clear indicator Mr Healey will not meet his own target, he said the goal of “expanding our capabilities” was getting lost “amidst a fixation with percentages and dates”.

As defence funding looms over the Chancellor’s first Budget, Russian threats have become more prominent.

Earlier this week, it was revealed that Russia had been pinpointing the exact location of Britain’s crucial undersea cables.

And if slashed by Moscow on the first day of a Nato conflict, as General Sir Gwyn Jenkins believes, the UK has just one vessel capable of repairing them.

Labour, this week, has outlined plans to dole out harsh criminal punishments for those convicted of tampering with either undersea internet cables or energy pipelines.

It will also grant telecommunications powers to remove or disable services during a national emergency.

While Russia has been conducting reconnaissance for a future conflict with the West, it has also been embroiled in its years-long invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Streeting said the fighting between the two countries showed the importance of using “every penny wisely”.

He said: “When modern warfare requires us to be agile, adapt constantly and think differently, I will not shy away from diverting funding earmarked for one project to another one that makes more sense.

“That is the lesson from Ukraine, where tactics and technologies on the battlefield today are a world away from when the war began just a few years ago.

“We have seen how a drone costing £500 can destroy a £3m tank and how innovative armoury can be deployed in weeks rather than years.

“In a world changing at such breakneck speed, the most dangerous words in defence today are, ‘We have always done it this way’.”