Are we ready for war? Welcome to The i Paper’s new opinion series in which our writers tackle the unexpected question that has suddenly become unavoidable in recent years.

• Ray Mears: This is the golden rule of preparing for war

• I’ve seen the state of our weaponry – helping Ukraine has left us exposed

• Our nuclear weapons are no longer enough to keep us safe

• Not enough people want to die for Britain – and who can blame them?

The last time Britain went to war on its own was in 1982 to recover the Falkland Islands after an Argentinian invasion . That was unusual. Modern British defence planning has always been based on the notion that if the country went to “war” in the way we normally understand the term, it would always be with our Western allies.

Britain’s long-st

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