Civilians must be ready to fight?

[cromwell]

Because our Army is too small.

Well now, there's a thought.
Which civilians would these be, I wonder? Traditionally the white working class boys were the ones who joined up and served.
I wonder how many would bother these days? And certainly imo there are sections of our society who in no way would join up to serve, should an enemy decide to invade.

You can't (as a political / ruling class) continually slag a country off for years and years, denigrating it's achievements and history, and then issue a call for all true patriots to come to the aid of the nation. Well you can, but don't expect miracles.

Full story here

https://uk.yahoo.com/news/civilians-mus ... 00318.html

[Workingman]

Militaries around the world are always too small in peacetime. It has always been the case except in dictatorships... and then they are for control of the local population. We no longer really need the boys from the Mersey and the Thames and the Tyne.

Another thing which is true is that in the technological age boots on the ground are not the bottom line - hardware and software are. Cyber weapons spring to mind. Numbers are important, but not the outright winner. China would rule the world if that were true.

Stand-off weapons that cannot be intercepted or their guidance systems 'cracked' are now more important. Think hypersonic missiles, cruise missiles, ICBMs or fire-and-forget rockets where the launchers can be miles away in minutes to go again.

As for the population, I suppose it would be down to the enemy involved. Many would remain neutral, but some potential enemies have a ready made fith-column in place. That's not for discussion, though, because it upsets sensibilities.

[medsec222]

As for the population, I suppose it would be down to the enemy involved. Many would remain neutral, but some potential enemies have a ready made fith-column in place. That's not for discussion, though, because it upsets sensibilities.

I don't see why the conversation is not up for discussion Frank.

When I was a young girl I used to watch the black and white war films. It was always Tommy, Jock, Taffy, and Paddy. They always had each others backs. They could depend on each other no matter what. Perhaps I saw things through rose-coloured glasses but 70 years on I wonder if things would still be quite the same. Different communities have different loyalties.

[Workingman]

Different communities have different loyalties.

And therein lies the danger. We were once all together, these days we are "communities", different communities. Each has its own allegiances and we are no longer together, but generally we are not allowed to say those things - they are phobics or isms.

There once was a time when differences were based on politics or culture: not now. Today they are religion based, and that frightens me. It's the Crusades all over again, but here at home.

[cromwell]

We were once all together, these days we are "communities", different communities.

This is what I was trying to get at. We used to be a nation state; now we really aren't, or at least, not the one that we were.
Any appeal to nationalism will therefore imo fall pretty flat.

[cruiser2]

Scotland has its own Parliament, as does Wales.
But their MPS can vote in the main Parliament which only affects people in England.

And they call this "Democracy"

[Workingman]

That's because they, and NI, are still part of the UK so elect MPs to Westminster. Those MPs are separate from the devolved members of the Scottish Parliament, Senedd and the Assembly.

Yes, it is democracy. It is just a shame that England does not have its own "Parliament" for English only issues./ matters. Unfortunately all these things are costly, yet achieve very little. They are just another layer of politics interfering in our lives... and we pay for them!