OH, TO BE IN ENGLAND: We need more people ready to fight, military chief says.
The UK needs “more people being ready to fight for their country” as the nation seeks to deter a potential confrontation with Russia, the head of the military has said.
Chief of the Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton said “a whole-of-society response” was needed, including an increase in regular forces, cadets and reserves.
He also called for more school leavers and graduates to join the defence industry.
While the chief of the defence staff suggested there was only a remote chance of a direct Russian attack on the UK, he told an event at the Royal United Services Institute that so-called hybrid attacks showed the threat was worsening.
Sir Richard said: “Sons and daughters. Colleagues. Veterans will all have a role to play. To build. To serve. And if necessary, to fight.
“And more families will know what sacrifice for our nation means.”
To be fair, they’re busy sacrificing for the nation by being locked up for writing spicy tweets: Police make 30 arrests a day for offensive online messages.
The police are making more than 30 arrests a day over offensive posts on social media and other platforms.
Thousands of people are being detained and questioned for sending messages that cause “annoyance”, “inconvenience” or “anxiety” to others via the internet, telephone or mail.
Custody data obtained by The [London] Times shows that officers are making about 12,000 arrests a year under section 127 of the Communications Act 2003 and section 1 of the Malicious Communications Act 1988.
As Kurt Schlichter tweets:
This notion that young British men — specifically the working class ones — are going to sign up to go fight Russia for Ukraine is hilarious. This applies to other countries too, but let’s focus on the Brits. It’s a lesson in how the left skin-suits an institution, demands respect, and finds that it receives none.
These are the same young men who have been told they, their country, and their culture are garbage for the last 20 years. Racist, sexist, transphobic — you know the score. When they dare complain about their communities being changed without their consent, they get slandered. When foreign invaders rape their sisters and wives, the ruling class covers it up. If they take action, or even speak about it, they will be jailed. Yeah, I bet they’re just chomping at the bit to go get killed at the behest of their tormentors.
Of course, Old Blighty’s newfound saber rattling could simply be Labour’s version of Obama’s “stray voltage” mechanism to ride out a particularly bad news cycle:
I’ll go you one further…the British Army isn’t going to war with Russia at all… this whole thing is a squirrel to take the focus off the fact that Britain’s elite class has turned the country into a dangerous second world shithole
— George MF Washington (@GMFWashington) December 17, 2025