THE makers of the new Wargame TV show starring Nicola Sturgeon and Michael Gove have been accused of causing “panic” amid a flurry of warnings about “World War Three”.
Sky’s new programme features Gove in the role of prime minister with Sturgeon as his deputy as Britain gets drawn into a war with Russia.
The show, which also features former Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy, has prompted an array of articles warning about the UK’s preparedness for war.
But it has also sparked a backlash, with critics claiming the programme is boosting warnings from military leaders and arms companies about “inevitable” conflict “with minimal critical challenge”.
A spokesperson for Stop the War told The National: “It's absolutely horrific that Sky News is seemingly making light entertainment out of the drive to war by politicians and the generals and arms manufacturers who advise them.
“There's nothing inevitable about war, other than the profits it creates for the defence industry as countries throw still more billions their way while cutting spending at home, along with the misery it brings to so many ordinary working-class people.”
Simon Barrow, a consultant and researcher for the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) said that the “hype” surrounding the show “should remind us” of the links between the military, intelligence services and the arms industry with the media.
He added: “This creates an environment where corporate and military warnings about ‘WW3 readiness’ are amplified with minimal critical challenge.
“But whizz-bang wargaming visuals, over-excitable politicians and adrenalin-driven military pundits do not generate a level-headed climate for talking sense about defence.
“War-hype is dangerous not just because every modern arms race has led directly or indirectly to conflict, but also because it causes panic and distracts us from the real issues.”
He identified climate resilience, food security and cyber security as “among the three major threats we should be paying much more attention to right now”.
Barrow added: “Yet the current political momentum, spurred on by the money-driven self-interest of large arms companies, is to pour ever more money into large military projects ill-adapted to the asymmetric nature of modern conflict, as well as the massive waste of over £200 billion on nuclear weapons.
“The economic, social and environmental damage this causes makes us less not more secure. Those who might wish us harm know this all too well.”
Coverage of the show, which airs on Sky on Monday night, has focused on a perceived lack of preparedness in the British state for the possibility of war.
Speaking ahead of the premier, Sturgeon said: “I hope this show is entertaining, but I hope it sparks a debate about whether the country is properly prepared. I think this [Wargame] shines a light on the threadbare nature of the UK’s conventional defences.
"I think there will be facts which emerge from this show, which are not secret, they are in the public domain, but by shining a light on them I think there are some really hard facts that will shock people about just how underdefended the UK is in many key respects.”
The Telegraph's four-star review of the programme concludes: "And what The Wargame brings home is that Britain is woefully under-resourced for a conflict. [Former Joint Forces Command leader, General Sir Richard] Barrons estimates that, in a war with Russia, 'we’ve got about two weeks’ fight'. If Putin watches this, he’ll laugh his head off."
The Metro's review highlighted Sturgeon as 'the voice of reason in a cabinet that increasingly looks like it’s itching for a fight' as the others are 'thirsty for war' and concludes: "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.”
Sky was approached for comment.
