Britain’s Military-Industrial Complex Is Promoting War Fever
Senior figures from Britain’s armed forces, serving or retired, are openly intervening in national politics to demand a massive increase in military spending. The media rarely mentions their ties to private firms that stand to profit from the bonanza.
The former commander of the Joint Forces Command, Sir Richard Barrons, has frequently made media appearances in the last twelve months. This year, he has been arguing publicly for substantially higher UK defense expenditure, with an extra £10 billion a year. (Leon Neal / Getty Images)
War fever has gripped the European political establishment. War in Ukraine and rumors of continent-wide conflict with Russia are now the staple justification for rearmament, ballooning arms budgets, and the reintroduction of conscription across Europe.
Popular consent for this lurch to militarization is very limited indeed, so the political establishment is deploying military and security service officers, past and present, in an unprecedented propaganda blitz to make the case for war. Astounding statistics underline how far this process has gone.
In the last twelve months, there have been approximately nine hundred appearances by serving or former military or security service officers on Britain’s mainstream media. That’s roughly seventy-five contributions every month, or seventeen a week. The figure would be much higher if pro-war politicians were included.
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