The release of the Strategic Defence Review has prompted a flurry of articles in the media looking at what it means for us. Included in this are pieces pretty much saying that at some point in the next few years, a war with Russia is inevitable and that UK society needs to adjust itself to that reality. Here’s one such piece: Russia is at war with Britain and US is no longer a reliable ally, UK adviser says - Dan Sabbagh | The Guardian | 6.6.25. Among these pieces are some talking about the need to prepare for a nuclear attack: This is what will happen if Putin attacks the UK with a nuclear missile - Jane Merrick | The I Paper | 8.6.25.
This is all pretty alarming and depressing isn't it? That’s an intentional tactic – bombarding people with fear porn to wear them down, with the aim of making them look to the powers that be for ‘protection’. Whether that will actually work is an interesting question. The trajectory UK society looks to be set on is one of increasing militarisation: Starmer’s Big Idea: A militarised, impoverished Britain - Tabitha Troughton | Freedom News | 6.6.25.
Still, taking the Labour administration at its word (and really, it has been quite solid on the authoritarian, death-dealing side of things), the UK is heading enthusiastically towards a militaristic state, with hundreds of thousands of school children in cadet forces, youth unemployment ‘solved’ by army recruitment, and an economy increasingly based on increasing subsidies for the multinational arms industry. Meanwhile it will ensure that nuclear weapons continue to proliferate, while the inherent apocalyptic threat, once recognised and addressed, will continue unquestioned.
A trajectory that will be reinforced by a lot of hyped up scaremongering. The thinking is that a build up of fear, and stemming from that, hatred of Russia, will do the job of swinging support behind eventually going to war. This is despite the Russian embassy in London clearly stating that Russia has no intention of directly attacking the UK:
Ambassador Kelin: We do not represent any threat to Britain at all — neither at sea, nor in the air, nor on land. It is all an invention to distract attention from domestic issues.
It is up to the UK and other NATO countries to decide where to spend their own money — whether on these military toys or on social welfare. This is despite there being clear evidence that there is British involvement in a number of actions against Russia carried out by Ukraine.
It's pretty bloody clear that we're being subjected to a massive psyop to get us supporting a war against Russia. Only the most blinkered supporter of Ukraine would deny that we're being subjected to an absolute barrage of propaganda. This psyop is only going to deepen and intensify, that's for certain. The question is, how many people are going to fall for it?
The vibes I'm getting are that a lot of people aren't buying it. The same way that a number of people didn't buy into the Covid 'crisis' psyop back in 2020 and 2021. Bear in mind that the number of people starting to question what was done to us in that crisis is growing. The powers that be who are trying to pull the psyop that will make people accept that war with Russia is inevitable are having to work on an already very sceptical populace.
As I've mentioned before, the only people who appear to be enthusiastic about escalating tensions with Russia are middle class liberals and, the old school, right wing press reading blimps who love a 'good war': So, who’s doing this and why? 20.5.25.
If someone thinks they can get under our skin and demoralise us by targeting our ant-war stickers, they’re wasting their time.
However, while we refuse to get riled by whoever is doing this, we are curious about their motivations. Obviously whoever it is has bought into the pro-Ukrainian propaganda we’re being subjected. They could be the middle class liberal types who have been persuaded to adopt Ukraine as a cause in the same way that many of them adopted the masking, social distancing and vaccine pushing during the Covid ‘crisis’ in 2020/21. Alternatively, they could be the older armchair warriors unthinkingly swallowing every word rabidly anti-Russian rags such as the Telegraph spew out. Taken together, both of these demographics make for a strange combination.
As I've also mentioned before, the only section of the working class who would show any enthusiasm for increasing militarisation would be those working in the arms industry. The rest of the working class who would be subjected to conscription are not at all enthusiastic - some are downright hostile: A message to those beating the drums of war 24.2.25.
Will a working class, white and non-white, that feels it has been getting thrown under the bus ever since the agenda of de-industrialisation set in motion in the 1980s by the then prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, be willing to allow themselves to be conscripted to fight a war that only has support from those who presume to rule over us, the arm chair generals in the media and middle class liberals? I’ve been monitoring a number of social media feeds and the impression I’m getting is that the working class are pretty hostile to the idea of being conscripted to fight a war they feel they have absolutely no stake in.
The powers that be have got one heck of a job on to convince enough people in the UK that a war with Russia is actually a good idea, in order to ensure the level of support they'd need to carry it off. It's not that often I'm optimistic but, I've got a feeling that the drive towards increased militarism and ultimately, an all out war with Russia, can be stopped. As I argued in my previous piece, new thinking about what an anti-war movement could be is needed. It's would definitely have to be something that goes beyond the traditional but increasingly outmoded left/right divide: The anti-war movement we need 3.6.25.
What has to be noted is that opposition to an all out war with Russia and the increasing militarisation of the UK cuts across and beyond the political spectrum. It ranges from the rump of hard left groups who never sold out on their anti-imperialist principles all the way over to working class people who do not want to sacrifice themselves, or their sons and daughters, in a land war with Russia. It’s the working class who would be expected to provide the cannon fodder and from what I can gather, many of them would be opposed to and quite possibly, actively resisting any attempts to impose conscription.
It would also have to go beyond being just an anti-war movement to one that seeks a total social transformation. One where power comes right down to the level of the community so that no leaders with nefarious ambitions can ever rise and threaten us again. One where humanity works in harmony with nature and technology is our servant, not our master. There's no point in just dealing with the pro-war psyop and then stopping. That's merely treating the symptoms while ignoring the cause of the problem. That being a malign, toxic techno-fascism serving the elites while screwing the rest of us. Get rid of that and the threat of war will be much reduced, if not eliminated. At this point, thinking big has to be an ambition if we are to defeat the scourge of militarism once and for all.
The only way you could get Britain into a war with Russia would be if they thought Russia was attacking Britain. That’s how they could pull this off - either stage a false flag or somehow goad Russia into attacking the UK.
Thanks for this - it's useful. I don't get the impression many people would be up for war. Notionally getting behind the Ukrainian flag is one thing, but after years of rising prices and taxes there's little appetite for the sacrifice of an active war.
Conscription talk makes me laugh - is a nation who stayed indoors for nearly two years because of a disease only affecting a vulnerable minority really going to go off to a foreign land and fight the Russians?