Dear Arkite
I am delighted to present my Global Forecaster UK Strategic Defence Review 2020. Which I sincerely hope will inform you of the clear and present threats Britain faces and stimulate action to secure our island home from attack, whilst simultaneously stimulating our depressed economy to new and significant growth. A very High-resolution Pdf GF-20 SDR is available for download.
In a world consumed by the pandemic and its self-imposed economic impact, you might wonder why defence is such a critical issue. Whilst struggling to optimise our response to the pandemic, we risk being distracted from a much greater existential threat to our Nation.
We have all experienced or observed the behaviour of bullies. Aggressive opportunists who seek to intimidate with words and jibes, that diminish and control, much like we see in a playground. These bullies may also choose to escalate their hold by suggesting, or using physical violence. Most importantly, all bullies are predators and as such will exploit any weakness, but avoid the strong, who might defend themselves and inflict harm upon then in return. In the geopolitical world, words and jibes equate to cyber-attacks, manipulation of social media, and physical intimidation and attacks to open warfare. Playgrounds gangs are very similar to defence and security alliances.
Putin is a classic bully. Russia is not overtly expansive, due to its negative demographics, but Putin is aggressive and opportunistic. As such, British and Western weakness will be punished at a moment of friction, unless we raise our awareness and strengthen our defences.
China, however, is a super bully: strong, fast, increasingly powerful, and until now patient, who will take on even the strongest nations, in time seeking total global domination. Only maximised national strength coupled with strong alliances will be able to stand up to this super bully. Thus Britain faces a critical moment of decision. A now or never moment.
In response to this clear threat, I hope that you will join my call to arms by taking the time to read this report and commend it to your friends, colleagues ane then sign my Parliamentary petition Now Or Never: This Government is Failing to Secure the Defence of the Realm to express your concern for Britain's security and safety.
To respond to the accelerating threat posed by Russia and China we must deploy a full-spectrum deterrent by 2025. Spending £100bn per year on defence that will stimulate significant economic growth. This is the ‘now or never’ moment for Britain to make our shores secure. We are in the pre-phases of war; cyber threats and the military adventurism of both China and Russia, sleepwalking into the risk of the destruction and/or subjugation of our nation. Our British Democracy has been bequeathed to us by previous generations, who, have fought two World wars for its continuance. If we are to learn from their sacrifices, it is that the only way to avoid war initiated by an aggressive protagonist is to invest in our Armed Forces to create a genuine deterrent
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/555863/sponsors/new?token=EQTCQime56kTQEM8U7Yv or https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions
Thank you for your support in this critical national endeavour.
Warmest Regards
David
The Full Petition Briefing
Now Or Never: This Government Is Failing To Secure The Defence Of The Realm Against The Threat of War.
This Government is failing in its prime responsibility to protect the nation against an impending global conflict despite already being in the pre-phases of war. One only has to look at Russia in the Baltic, along its southern borders and in the Middle East is showing signs of aggression. In another example, China in the Himalayas and its current threat to take over Taiwan. All the while our Government continues to reduce spending on the defence of our Great Britain, whilst we are being targeted!
Our political leaders have almost no collective military experience which has resulted in a weaker Britain. Even today, these same politicians threaten to weaken us further by reducing our national defences. This has resulted in two decades of decreasing our military to the point of ineffectiveness whilst the global geopolitical risk factors have increased.
The harsh reality is that we are now in an all-out arms race with Russia ($65 Bn) and China ($261 Bn or more based on purchasing parity). In comparison, Britain spends just (2% of GDP i.e. $48 Bn or £42 Bn) while Australia has just committed $270 Bn over ten years, to rebuilding its entire Navy to protect its shores against the threat from China, and America spends $760 Bn. Even neutral nations like Sweden are urgently increasing defence spending by 40% over the next five years in response to Russian territorial aggression.
So, why are we so ready to spend £100bn plus on HS2 whilst sleepwalking into the risk of the destruction and/or subjugation of our nation? Especially when the intentions of our protagonists have been clearly revealed. Both China and Russia have continued with relentless cyberattacks on Britain to steal our valuable IP whilst also seeking to destabilise our democracy.
China has already clearly demonstrated hostile intent by ignoring international law by building an entire chain of artificial islands to control the South China Sea. This comes alongside the annexation of Hong Kong in violation with its legal agreements with Britain. Additionally, the Chinese Communist Party did all it could to hide the extent of the Pandemic in Wuhan to maximise its spread to the outside world. Simultaneously, China’s treatment of the Uighurs, which compares to that of the Jews by Nazi Germany, is in direct opposition to the values that underpin the free democratic world order. Meanwhile, Russia has used chemical nerve agents inside Britain in violation of protocols mutually agreed in the Cold War. Concerningly, Britain failed to retaliate against Putin which has only increased the risk of a subsequent, more severe, attack.
Our new national reality is that post-Brexit Britain is once more a global maritime nation, placing it directly in the line of Russian and Chinese ambition. To respond to this accelerating threat, our government desperately needs to shift its mindset from one of cost-cutting to one of a £100bn per year defence budget. It urgently needs to invest in rearmament which will simultaneously stimulate significant economic growth, via an expansion of Britain’s military industrial complex. The financial reality is that for every 1% spent on defence it will grow the national GDP by at least 2% and in all probability, as we expand our global maritime reach, by a much higher multiple as levels of trade consequently increase. Thus, investment in Britain's military-Industrial complex is an excellent way to stimulate national growth in this period of deep economic recession.
Our British democracy is a unique and precious system that has been bequeathed to us by previous generations, who, on two occasions in the last 110 years, have had to fight for its continuance. If we are to learn from their sacrifices, it is that the only way to avoid war initiated by an aggressive protagonist is to invest in our military to create a genuine deterrent so that the risks are simply too high for a belligerent nation to even contemplate attack.
Thus, to secure the defence of the realm, Britain must deploy a full-spectrum deterrent to deter the almost inevitable aggression by 2025. With the lead time to produce new weapon systems counted in years, this is the ‘now or never’ moment for Britain to make our shores secure.
Sign The UK Parliamentary Petition
https://petition.parliament.uk/
Download from Now Or Never The Global Forecaster UK Strategic Defence Review 2020
© David Murrin 2025. All images courtesy of Getty Images. |