Penny Mordaunt has accused the Prime Minister of “failing” to defend Britain as she warned of the “real threat” facing the nation.

Speaking to GB News, the former Defence Secretary declared Britain needs to “wake up” to the looming threat and be properly prepared.

On Wednesday, Defence Secretary John Healey confirmed Russian spy ship Yantar is operating on the edge of British waters with the vessel directing lasers at pilots of surveillance aircraft monitoring its activities.

Mr Healey said: “We deployed a Royal Navy frigate and RAF P-8 planes to monitor and track this vessel’s every move, during which the Yantar directed lasers at our pilots.

“That Russian action is deeply dangerous. This is the second time this year that this ship, the Yantar, has deployed to UK waters.”

Delivering her verdict on the incident, Ms Mordaunt told GB News: “It is a pattern of behaviour that we have seen for some time, we’ve been very used to them testing our airspace.

“What you’ve been seeing over recent weeks and months about them testing our Nato allies, their airspace with drones, this is a very systematic thing that they are doing.

“They’ve been up to this stuff for a very long time indeed, and they also use what appear to be legitimate commercial entities to lay cabling themselves, and then sabotage other people’s cabling so that data moves on to their own networks.

“This is old school, they’ve done this for a long time.”

She added: “I think it’s very concerning that they’ve gone as far as doing what they have with regard to the RAF, and the Defence Secretary is absolutely right to robustly respond to them.”

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Asked by host Stephen Dixon how much of a threat Russia is to the UK, Ms Mordaunt stated: “They do pose a real threat, and it may not look like them sending missiles over or attacking us in a traditional way that people might expect, but it will be about sabotaging our communications.

“It will be putting our critical national infrastructure at risk, it will be trying to sabotage the NHS and the data that supports the wellbeing of our citizens.”

She warned: “They are a real threat and they’ve said that they’re a real threat.

“They’ve been quite open about all sorts of things that they’re planning on doing, and it’s high time we started believing them. Britain has to wake up.”

Taking aim at Keir Starmer’s efforts to defend Britain, the ex-Defence Secretary told GB News: “We have got to start rearming and investing in our defences.

“The First Sea Lord said a few weeks ago, we have four years to do this in.

“Keir Starmer is not doing this, he said he believes it’s our moral duty to and he is failing to do it.

“So as we approach the Budget, we have got to put pressure on the Chancellor to actually deliver and give our armed forces the modern equipment they need to keep us safe.”

Questioned by host Ellie Costello on how “ready” Britain is realistically to defend ourselves against an attack, Ms Mordaunt concluded: “The armed forces are incredible and with the equipment that they have, they use it in a very creative way.

“I don’t want your viewers to worry, we have got what we need to keep us safe.

“The problem is that in a few years time, unless we invest now, we won’t be able to do that. We have got to modernise.

“Your viewers will know how warfare is changing, they’ll see what has happened in Ukraine and how things are moving very quickly.

“Unless we give a signal to industry that it can produce things at the volume we’re going to need them, they won’t be able to do that.”

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