Former armed forces minister James Heappey says UK must prepare for war despite being ‘long way behind’

Preparing the nation for war is the best way to maximise the chance of peace – but the UK is a “very long way behind”, a former defence minister has warned. In a sign of how alien the idea of armed conflict has become to most officials in Whitehall, James Heappey said many departments had declined the chance to take part in a “whole of government” exercise to practice evacuating to a bunker in the event of war. It was a drill former defence secretary Ben Wallace had pushed for “to get people down to the bunker so they could…