The Ministry of Defiance | The Wargame Ep 6
The Wargame
Sky News
4.5 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 2 December 2025
⏱️ 64 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
So, how has the UK been left so poorly defended? Candid interviews with almost every real-life defence secretary since the end of the Cold War reveal all.
Join us for The Wargame: Decoded on January 29th in London.
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Russia knows our weaknesses. But do you?
The Wargame from Sky News and Tortoise imagines how a Russian attack on the UK could play out – and invites real-life former ministers, military chiefs and other experts to figure out how to defend the country.
Written and presented by Sky News' security and defence editor, Deborah Haynes.
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Come to “The Wargame: Decoded” - our live event in January 2026.
It will put you in the mind of the people who took part. Deborah Haynes and some of our participants, including Sir Ben Wallace, Amber Rudd and Jack Straw, will talk through the decisions they made, the pressures they felt - and there’s chance to experience some of the key moments of the Game for yourself.
How would the UK respond in a crisis? And how prepared are we?
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You shall go to the ball. |
| 0:04.0 | This Christmas, join Call the Midwife star Helen George, West End and Broadway sensation Charlie Stemp and the legendary Basil Brush. |
| 0:13.0 | Bob, Bob! |
| 0:14.0 | In Cinderella at Richmond Theatre, from Saturday the 6th of December to Sunday the 4th of January. |
| 0:20.0 | Book your tickets to the ball at ATGTickets.com slash Richmond |
| 0:24.5 | before the clock strikes midnight. |
| 0:28.9 | Bob! |
| 0:33.6 | Sky News, the full story first. |
| 0:41.2 | Thank you. Sky News, the full story first. Hello, it's Deborah Haynes here, and thank you for downloading these new episodes of the war game. |
| 0:46.7 | I also wanted to tell you about our one-off live event happening in London in January. |
| 0:52.1 | The wargame decoded will put you in the mind of the people who took part. |
| 0:57.0 | Some of our participants, including Sabin Wallace, Amber Rudd and Jack Straw, |
| 1:02.0 | will be with me on stage to talk through the decisions they made, the pressures they felt, |
| 1:07.0 | and will let you experience some of the key moments of the game for yourself. |
| 1:12.1 | How would the UK respond in a crisis and how prepared are we? |
| 1:17.4 | Join us for the war game Decoded on January the 29th in London. |
| 1:22.6 | The details are in the episode notes. |
| 1:26.5 | The war game revealed how vulnerable the UK has become to an attack on the home front. |
| 1:33.0 | But to understand why and what's gone wrong, it's worth taking a journey back in time. |
| 1:40.2 | Okay, I'm Jeff Hoon. I was the Secretary of State for Defence from 1999 to 2005. |
| 1:46.2 | My name is John Hutton. For a year, I was Defence Secretary under Gordon Brown. |
| 1:50.2 | My name is Sir Liam Fox. I was Defence Secretary in the Coalition Government. |
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