UK ‘increasingly vulnerable’ to threat of missile and drone attacks after decades of cuts
The UK is increasingly vulnerable to the threat of missiles and drones after decades of cost-saving cuts eroded its once world-class air defences, military sources and Cold War veterans have warned.
Defence chiefs are understood to be exploring options to regrow Britain’s ability to protect critical national infrastructure – like power stations, military bases and government buildings – from the kind of Russian cruise and ballistic missile strikes that are devastating Ukraine.
But any credible “integrated air and missile defence” plan will cost billions of pounds and would likely require a further increase in defence spending beyond a proposed rise to 2.5% of national income recently announced by the prime minister, according to defence sources.
“Can the UK defend its cities from the skies if there was a barrage of missiles? No,” a senior defence source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“Do the public know what to do in the event of an air attack? No… Put simply, are we defended? No.”
As part of a series called Prepared For War? Sky News visited air defence sites that once played a key role in protecting Britain during the Cold War – and spoke to veterans who were part of the force that had been on alert to respond to any Soviet air threat.
Pressing the big red button
Flicking a line of switches to prime a simulated batch of missiles from inside a cabin at an old military-base-turned-museum in Norfolk, a former Royal Air Force technician watches a screen as a radar scans for enemy aircraft.
“It’s picked up a target,” says Robert Findlater, pointing at a dot on the monitor, which looks more like a retro computer game.
Robert Findlater, a former Royal Air Force technician who was on the UK’s Bloodhound unit
A beeping noise indicates the signal from the radar is becoming stronger as the hostile aircraft approaches.
Once in range, red letters on one of the screens that had read “hold fire” switch to the words “free to fire”, written in green.
Mr Findlater leans forward and presses a big red button.
Suddenly there is a roar as the simulated noise of a missile blasting off shakes the cabin.
The Bloodhound air defence missile, powered with a Rolls Royce engine, could reach 60 miles per hour in a tenth of a second before rocketing up to twice the speed of sound as it powered towards an enemy aircraft or missile – state-of-the-art technology in its day.
“We’ve been successful in our launch,” the RAF veteran says, with a smile.
The Bloodhound air defence missile could reach 60 miles per hour in a tenth of a second
It could then rocket up to twice the speed of sound as it powered towards an enemy aircraft or missile
He then peers back at the screen, watching a line of what looks like radio waves jumping up and down, until there is a spike to indicate the missile closing in on the target.
“It [the radar] is now looking for the missile, and there she is in the beam. Next thing you see – that’s the warhead.
“It’s gone off, and you killed it,” the veteran says, finishing the simulation.
Long retired, Mr Findlater joined the RAF in 1968.
He rose up through the ranks to become chief technician on a Bloodhound unit, charged with ensuring the missiles were ready and able at all times to fire at any threat.
Retired equipment at the RAF Air Defence Radar Museum in Norfolk
Stepping outside the cabin, from where the system was operated, to a patch of grass, the veteran showed Sky News around the actual weapon – a lethal-looking collection of rockets and warheads, painted white and lying horizontal now, rather than pointing towards the sky.
Asked what message it had been designed to send to NATO’s former Warsaw Pact foes, Mr Findlater said with a chuckle: “Don’t come knocking… It says we’re ready for you.”
The ground-based systems, which had been dotted around the UK’s coastlines, used to be part of a layered grid of Cold War air defences that also included fighter jets and other weapons.
But the entire arsenal of Bloodhound air defence missiles was taken out of service after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, while air bases and fast jet squadrons were reduced to save money as successive prime ministers took what has been described as a “peace dividend”.
There had been talk at the time of investing in US-made Patriot air defence systems – an even more capable piece of kit that remains a core part of the air defences of the United States and a number of other NATO allies.
“But I think the government just gave up and shut everything down because there was no threat any more,” Mr Findlater said.
Asked whether he thought the UK was well defended now, he said: “I don’t feel we’re defended, no, not at all.”
As for how that made him feel, he said: “Sad… Considering what we had in the 1970s and 1980s.”
Frozen in time
Also at the RAF Air Defence Radar Museum is an old Cold War operations room – frozen in time, with giant boards along one wall, charting the number of fighter jets once ready to scramble.
There are also rows of desks, fitted with radar screens and important-looking buttons.
John Baker, 69, once worked in this hub as an aircraft identification and recognition officer.
An old Cold War operations room at the RAF Air Defence Radar Museum
John Baker, 69, once worked as an aircraft identification and recognition officer
Asked if the UK’s air defences had been prepared for war back when he served, he said: “We practised. There were exercises for war.
“Every couple of months or so there would be a small exercise and once or twice a year there would be a major NATO exercise in which this – because this radar site was closest to Europe – would be the epicentre.”
While cautioning that he was no longer up-to-date on the military’s air defence capabilities, he sounded less certain about whether they could handle a major attack today.
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“If hundreds and hundreds of drones and cruise missiles were to come in. I don’t think we could safely take out all of them,” Mr Baker said.
He added: “I’m glad I did my time back then – and not now.”
Air defences ‘woefully inadequate’
The UK does have highly capable air defence equipment – just no longer enough of it to be able to protect the vast array of critical infrastructure across the country and also to defend troops deployed on operations overseas.
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Making the situation more grave is a growth in the quality and quantity of missiles and drones that hostile states such as Russia, China, Iran and North Korea have developed.
At present, the RAF has just nine frontline fast jet squadrons – including the quick reaction alert aircraft that are at the sharp end of defending against any air threat.
While modern jets – F-35 and Typhoon – are far more sophisticated than their predecessors, the UK had 30 frontline squadrons towards the end of the Cold War.
RAF F-35B Lightning II aircraft, seen on the deck of HMS Queen Elizabeth moored in Limassol, Cyprus, in 2021. Pic: Reuters
The Royal Navy’s six Type 45 destroyers are kitted with the country’s only ballistic missile defence systems.
But only three of these ships are “available for operations”, according to a navy spokesperson, including one that is deployed on operations in the Middle East.
On land, the military has around six Sky Sabre ground-based air defence systems – each one able to shoot down multiple missiles.
But at least two of these weapons – almost certainly more – are deployed overseas, and those in the UK only have a very limited range.
HMS Diamond is one of the Royal Navy’s six Type 45 Destroyers. Pic: Reuters
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Jack Watling, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, called the UK’s current array of air defences “woefully inadequate”.
Britain does benefit from its geography, with a lot of European NATO countries between its shores and Russia.
However, the air defences of many European nations have also been reduced to save money since the Soviet Union collapsed.
“We always hear this argument from the Ministry of Defence that gaps in our own capability are acceptable because we’re part of an alliance,” Mr Watling said.
“It’s a little bit like if you were going round to a ‘bring your own booze’ party and you said: ‘Well, there’s other people coming, so I’m not going to bring any alcohol’.
“If everyone adopts that approach, then there is simply nothing to drink. And when we look across NATO, there is an overall shortage [in air defences].”
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “The UK is well prepared for any event and defence of the UK would be taken alongside our NATO allies.
“As part of our commitment to invest an extra £75bn for defence over the next six years, we continue to review potential opportunities to develop our capabilities and modernise air defence across Europe in close discussion with allies and partners.”
Prosecutions of sub postmasters by the Department for Work and Pensions could be “tainted” as Sky News reveals officials worked with now discredited Post Office investigators to secure convictions.
Around 100 prosecutions of Post Office staff were led by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) between 2001 and 2006.
It is understood that these usually involved the cashing in of stolen order books.
The Post Office itself wrongly prosecuted hundreds of sub-postmasters between 1999 and 2015 – based on evidence from the faulty Horizon accounting system.
The role of government
A Sky News investigation, however, has discovered that information was shared between Post Office investigation teams and the DWP.
Chair of the Justice Select Committee, Sir Robert Neill KC, said as a result DWP convictions “need to be looked at”.
“I hadn’t been aware of that, for example, there may have been material in the DWP case as a result of joint investigations – which suggests a disclosure failure,” he added.
“I think that’s the area they need to look at if we are saying their approach was tainted from the beginning – in the way the investigators adopted things – then joint operations I suspect would be just as tainted arguably as something where it has been the Post Office on its own.”
What was known?
A 2003 DWP report into fraud describes “joint working” and the “sharing of information” with the Post Office.
It also outlines a “Fraud Prevention Board” established by the DWP and Royal Mail Group plc which includes “the exchange of information that directly assists fraud prevention and investigations”.
In addition, separately, a 2003 letter seen by Sky News also indicates a connection between DWP and Post Office investigations.
The letter, from the then post affairs minister Stephen Timms, references the case of Roger Allen, a sub-postmaster from Norwich.
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It states: “Subsequent investigations by the police, the Post Office Investigation Department and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) led to a prosecution by DWP…”
Roger Allen was convicted in 2004 of stealing pension payments and was sentenced to six months in prison. He died in March of this year.
Mr Allen had pleaded guilty to spare his wife – after his lawyer told him in a letter that there had been “an indication from the Crown that they may discontinue the proceedings against Mrs Allen were you minded to plead guilty”.
Despite the Criminal Cases Review Commission deciding Mr Allen had grounds to appeal against his conviction – it was upheld by the Court of Appeal in 2021.
DWP prosecutions are not covered in upcoming government legislation that will overturn Post Office convictions.
Roger Allen. Pic: Keren Simpson
Fighting to clear names
Keren Simpson, Roger’s daughter, has vowed to fight to clear his name posthumously.
She describes her father as a “proud” and “honest” man who “couldn’t face or deal” with the fact his conviction would not be overturned.
She says “in the end he obviously gave up” and there is “very little surviving evidence” because of the passage of time.
“He’s the innocent one,” Keren states. “I don’t see why he’s got to try and prove it. They have got to try and prove it, and show what evidence they actually had on my dad.
“Because the Department of Work and Pensions have put a statement out saying there was surveillance and witness testimonies and physical evidence to show it.
“Show me it.”
Roger Allen. Pic: Keren Simpson
Investigation failures?
Sky News has also seen documents that suggest failures by DWP investigators in a different case in the 2000s.
It involved a sub-postmaster who decided to plead not guilty and was acquitted of stealing by a jury.
In one extract it says a “senior investigating officer” was “willing to admit in open court that (they) had been neglectful in (their) duty in securing evidence”.
Another document appears to show a failure to review transaction logs used as evidence against the sub-postmaster.
Some logs appear to show that the accused did not cash the “dockets”, used to collect pension payments.
Other transaction logs indicate the sub-postmaster was not present at a particular branch when the theft was alleged to have occurred.
Christopher Head
Chris Head, former sub-postmaster and a campaigner for others, has also seen the documents and says they point to a “deeply flawed” DWP investigation.
“…they failed to obtain all transaction logs for the entirety of this case, but the ones that they have, they have they clearly haven’t looked at.”
He believes there are “more cases out there” which could be “part of a miscarriage of justice”.
A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said: “We do not recognise these claims.
“DWP investigates offences against the welfare system to protect taxpayers’ money, and between 2001 and 2006 a small number of Post Office staff were convicted for welfare-related fraud.
“These cases involved complex investigations and were backed by evidence including filmed surveillance, stolen benefit books and witness statements – they did not rely on Horizon evidence, and this has been accepted by the Court of Appeal.”
The Post Office says it “continues to help other prosecuting authorities to ensure that they have every assistance in taking their work forward”.
“This includes sharing all the information we have in relation to prosecutions which have been brought by other prosecutors.”
Meanwhile, Lord Sikka has tabled an amendment in the House of Lords to the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Bill to include all DWP convictions.
An outbreak of a waterborne disease in Devon has prompted urgent warnings for residents to boil their tap water.
At least 22 cases of cryptosporidiosis disease have been confirmed in and around the town of Brixham in South West England.
But what is the parasite that is making people sick, what are the symptoms of being infected with it and how serious can it be?
What is cryptosporidiosis disease?
Cryptosporidiosis is the disease caused by the parasite cryptosporidium.
Often shortened to crypto, infections can be caused by drinking contaminated water or swallowing contaminated water in swimming pools or streams.
It can also be acquired through contact with the faeces of infected animals or humans.
What are the symptoms?
The symptoms of cryptosporidiosis include:
• profuse watery diarrhoea
• stomach pains
• nausea or vomiting
• low-grade fever
• loss of appetite
How long does it last?
Most people develop symptoms within one to 12 days of picking up the parasite.
Symptoms usually last for about two weeks, but can last up to six weeks or longer when the immune system is not working properly.
During the illness, you might think you are getting better but the illness returns a couple of days later before you fully recover.
How serious is it?
Most people recover, but in people with severely weakened immune systems it can cause severe disease and can be fatal.
Serious cases and death used to be more common, according to Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia (UEA).
This is because before effective antiretroviral treatments were introduced for HIV/AIDS, people living with these illnesses would not recover if they picked up cryptosporidiosis.
Who is most at risk of serious illness?
People with weak immune systems are at greater risk of serious illness. This includes:
• people on some immunosuppressive drugs, for example cancer or transplant patients
• people with untreated HIV/AIDS
• malnourished children
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Residents ‘worried’ over water parasite
Does it need treatment?
There is no specific treatment for cryptosporidiosis.
It important to drink plenty of fluids as diarrhoea or vomiting can lead to dehydration, according to advice from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).
You might also want to talk to a pharmacist about oral rehydration sachets to help replace the sugar, salts and minerals the body has lost.
Dr Lincoln Sargeant, Torbay’s Director of Public Health, said anyone with “severe symptoms like bloody diarrhoea” should contact NHS 111 or their GP.
Severe cases may require hospital treatment.
How do you know if you have crypto?
The symptoms of crypto are similar to other stomach bugs, so the only way to know for sure if you have it is for your doctor to send a sample of your faeces to be tested in a laboratory.
Read more:
Water disease outbreak may last a week, expert says
Sickness outbreak forces farm to cancel animal cuddling
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
How can you stop the illness spreading?
If you are ill, stay away from nursery, school or work while you have symptoms, and for at least 48 hours after they stop.
You should also avoid swimming for two weeks after being unwell.
You should not prepare food for anyone else until 48 hours after diarrhoea has stopped.
Make sure you’re using good handwashing practices too, washing your hands thoroughly when handling food and after using the toilet.
The UKHSA also advises washing bedding and towels on the hottest possible cycle.
UK
Lucy Letby: Families of victims want inquiry live streamed to stop ‘grossly offensive’ conspiracy theories
The inquiry into how nurse Lucy Letby was able to murder babies at a hospital in Chester will begin to hear evidence in September.
Lawyers for the families of Letby’s victims told a preliminary hearing that the inquiry should be live streamed to the public to prevent the spread of “grossly offensive” conspiracy theories.
Letby was sentenced to 14 whole-life orders after she was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six others while working on the neo-natal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital in 2015 and 2016.
At the preliminary hearing, inquiry chair Lady Justice Thirlwall heard submissions on whether the hearings should be publicly broadcast.
Peter Skelton KC, on behalf of the families of six babies, said Letby’s crimes continued to be the subject of conspiracy theories online.
“One of the most effective antidotes to those theories and the damage they cause will be to see and to hear the people involved in the hospital give a true and comprehensive account of the facts,” he said.
But Andrew Kennedy KC, representing the Countess of Chester, said there was a “high level of anxiety” from staff at the prospect of giving evidence which was live streamed.
He said: “If a witness is concerned about live-streaming then if we can remove that concern we can, we would suggest, encourage candour, frankness and openness.”
Letby was given multiple whole-life terms and will be re-tried on one charge next month
Richard Baker KC, representing some of the other families, said: “Their desire in this case is for change and so that others do not experience what they have experienced.”
They were “saddened” and “concerned” at the suggestion the lack of transparency might continue, he said.
Lady Justice Thirlwall will give her decision on whether the hearings will be broadcast at a later date.
She had begun the proceedings with a pause for reflection on the “lives lost”, “injuries sustained” and “suffering” of the families.
Read more from Sky News:
Boy dies after falling from apartment block in east London
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The hearing was told 188 requests for information had been made to individuals including midwives, nurses, doctors, managers and members of the hospital board.
The inquiry hearings are scheduled to begin on 10 September at Liverpool Town Hall.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The parents of the babies will be among the first to give evidence.
Counsel to the inquiry Rachel Langdale KC told the hearing: “There are no sides. It is a search for the truth.”
Last month Letby asked the Court of Appeal for permission to mount a full legal challenge to her conviction. Judges are due to rule on this at a later date.
The former nurse is due to face a re-trial next month on one charge of the attempted murder of a baby in February 2016.
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