Wallace’s prediction of war comes ahead of the one-year anniversary of the Ukraine conflict, which erupted on Friday. He noted that “Russia has shown a complete disregard, not only for the lives of the people of Ukraine, but for its own soldiers”. Wallace added that “when someone has crossed the line and thinks it is OK to do that to your own people, running effectively a meat grinder for an army, I think he is not going to stop”.
The Defence Secretary’s statement that “war is coming” echoes the comments of the late British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, who declared that “peace in our time” had been secured with Germany on the eve of the Second World War. However, while Chamberlain was mistaken in his assessment, Wallace’s warning has been taken seriously by many, given the rising tensions between the West and Russia.
The UK government has been criticised in the past for “deliberately keeping defence broken”, with a “growing proportion” of public spending needing to go towards ensuring the country’s safety, according to Wallace. The Defence Secretary’s prediction of conflict within seven years is a stark reminder that the world is becoming increasingly unstable, and that the UK must prepare itself for the worst.
