If World War 3 is coming, here’s the proof we are woefully unprepared

‘Does anyone here know who is in power?’

Ordinarily, I like to think I have a good grasp on the British government, even if its line-up changes as frequently as the Sugababes, but today, when asked that very question, I am stumped.

I’m at a secret location in London, where I’ve been given an alarmingly minuscule amount of information other than that a press conference will be taking place for the televised adaptation of Sky News’ podcast The Wargame.

The series explores how the UK would respond to a rapidly-moving national emergency, a tad on the nose when each day feels as though the chances of facing the next world war or an apocalyptic climate crisis are becoming increasingly high.

After my phone has been locked away, a group of journalists and I are given a briefing to learn what catastrophe has fallen upon Great Britain and which high-profile politicians will be guiding the country through its darkest chapter since World War 2.

Just when I thought we were safe from Tory rule, I’m told the Prime Minister is… Michael Gove.

Former Secretary for Defence Penny Mordaunt returned to the post she served for a total of 85 days under Boris Johnson, with former Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon putting her personal dramas aside to serve as Deputy Prime Minister. Whatever your thoughts on her controversial personal life, her inclusion in a ‘national government’ was the first source of comfort I found as the list of names rolled out.

I spent the morning penned together with 20 or so real-life journalists from across all corners of the British press, before we were ushered into a lavish hall set up for an emergency press conference. Every single detail looked and felt so authentic; it was very easy to get swept away in the story.

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Sturgeon was the brave soul to face us, with no idea what questions would come her way. Five journalists were given questions in advance, but the imagined Deputy PM had no idea what they would be, a fact lost on me as she effortlessly reeled off impressive, well-constructed and heartfelt answers without a second’s hesitation.

But watching Sturgeon on the podium, so natural in her response to a crisis and with such brilliantly crafted answers, was strangely comforting, should we find ourselves suddenly at war with one of the most powerful and reckless countries in the world.

And a few months later, watching The Wargame, it turns out my instinct at the press conference was right.

Across the first three episodes, Sturgeon emerges as the voice of reason in a cabinet that increasingly looks like it’s itching for a fight, one of the few ministers pulling towards restraint while everyone else is thirsty for war.

The show starts with an emergency COBR meeting: the cabinet watches CCTV footage of two fighter jet pilots shot and killed by a mystery assassin. From there, they must decide how to act with little to no information about the threat that lies ahead.

Should they respond on instinct or wait for the facts? The obvious danger being, they don’t have time for facts if, as they suspect, Russia is launching a determined attack on British land.

What follows is a mess. Traditional right-wing voices such as Gove and Mordaunt have next to no patience for diplomacy, while Sturgeon and ‘Home Secretary’ Harriet Harman call for a more reasonable approach to avoid escalation.

Ultimately, though, the calls fall to Gove, and very quickly the UK finds itself at war with Russia with very few allies.

The Wargame may be completely fabricated, but the reality is that Britain is more vulnerable than it’s ever been: the European Union has no obligation to defend us, our ‘special relationship’ with the United States is suddenly non-existent and, as Trump’s former advisor Anthony Scaramucci bluntly reminds the UK, ‘You have to accept your middle power status, whether you like it or not.’

It’s an alarming watch, seeing what would likely happen should Britain find itself targeted by Russia. Our defence budgets have been so drastically slashed that at one point, the cabinet must decide which two areas to protect, because we no longer have the resources to protect even the majority of the country.

They run into unexpected hurdles: Russia using social media to spread misinformation; former international allies unable to trust us because deep-fake videos seemingly made by Russia have made us look untrustworthy.

Essentially, if there is a right answer to whatever new problem comes Gove’s way, if peace is the goal, then it’s a fair assessment to say he gets it wrong.

Cabinet meetings are interrupted by clips of the public posting videos on social media of their immediate panic. ‘There’s not supposed to be a World War 3, especially in my lifetime,’ says one woman on TikTok, which sums up our blissful ignorance that we are somehow immune to the missile strikes we’ve watched ruin other countries from afar.

At a screening of The Wargame, Baroness Ayesha Hazarika, who serves as Gove’s Director of Communications in the show, said: ‘We have got to start having a national conversation about this, not just in the corridors of Westminster or in our newsrooms, but this is a conversation that has to go out into the communities, into workplaces, into schools, colleges, family around the dinner table.’

The prospect of World War 3 has never felt more real, and we are woefully unprepared.

I may not have much trust in this particular cabinet to guide us through a Russian attack after watching the first three episodes, but it has opened my eyes to at least preparing for the very real possibility of the worst-case scenario.

Where would I want to be? Who would I want to be with? What would I need? Our cupboards aren’t big enough to stockpile a month’s worth of tinned goods, so do we need to move?

They’re genuine questions that have run through my mind since watching The Wargame, and I’m sure there will be many more, and much more important ones, that we should all be asking too.

The Wargame launches on Sky One at 9pm on March 22 and will be available to stream on NOW.