Former Minister Voices Idea of Sending Britons to War: "There Are Situations Where People Must Die"

Former British minister Jacob Rees-Mogg warns that the UK could be facing war in the coming years. In a video posted on social media, the former Tory figure states that Britons must be prepared to do their duty—even if that means some must die for their country. His remarks have sparked strong reactions, including from citizen journalist and activist Tommy Robinson, who says the British do not want to sacrifice their lives for what politicians have turned the country into today—where people who oppose current developments are also accused of being racists. Robinson also claims that Britons do not want to die in what he describes as politicians’ “globalist wars.”

In the roughly eight-minute video clip, Jacob Rees-Mogg reflects on national duty, defense, and what he believes is required for a nation to defend itself against external threats.

Rees-Mogg is a well-known British Conservative politician who served in the UK Parliament from 2010 until the 2024 election. During his political career, he held several prominent ministerial posts, including Leader of the House of Commons and with responsibility for Brexit affairs.

He was also Minister of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy during Liz Truss’s short time as Prime Minister. Since leaving Parliament, Rees-Mogg has remained a prominent voice within the British right and now works as a presenter for the news channel GB News.

“It is not impossible that in the coming years we may be faced with a war. If that happens, we will need people who want to join the armed forces and go out and do their duty,” Rees-Mogg says in the video.

Stock photo British army / Jacob Rees-Mogg. Photo: Maurits Vink CC BY 2.5 / Katie Chan CC BY-SA 4.0

He continues that in such a situation, people are needed who are prepared to join the military and do their duty. Further, he says that there may be situations where people must die to save their country, citing previous wars as historical examples.

A central part of Rees-Mogg’s reasoning focuses on duty. He argues that a country needs citizens who are prepared to defend it if faced with a serious threat.

According to Rees-Mogg, otherwise a country risks being taken over by another state. He also draws a parallel to ancient Rome and claims that a weakened will to fight for one’s own society was one of the reasons for the empire’s fall.

“There may even be situations where people must die to save their country, as we have seen in previous wars. That is something that allows a country to survive,” he says, and continues:

“If people are not prepared to do their duty, the country will be taken over by another nation. This is partly why ancient Rome fell. Duty is something noble, and it is not always easy, but it is the right thing to do.”

We need to bring back Duty and the Stiff Upper Lip. pic.twitter.com/Wgxqb1UC5B

— Jacob Rees-Mogg (@Jacob_Rees_Mogg) September 21, 2026

Thousands of Angry Comments

The video has garnered nearly a million views in a day and has also led to strong reactions on social media. Criticism has focused on Rees-Mogg urging other Britons to be ready to risk their lives in a potential future war.

Among the thousands of comments, criticism is also directed at Rees-Mogg’s own family. Several ask whether the same expectation of duty would apply to his own children and if they too would be expected to go to the front.

Here is a selection of comments under his video:

“You’re literally sitting in an armchair talking rubbish, go fight yourself, little boy!”

“Jacob, spend some real time with ordinary people.”

“You can join your buddies at the front line. NO ONE IS FIGHTING IN YOUR FAKE WAR.”

“Send your imported client class to fight. They are just as British as the rest of us, remember that.”

“Duty—until you politicians do your duty towards the people, don’t expect us to do our duty for you. If you want us to defend the country, make it worth defending. You tell us Putin isn’t strong enough to take Ukraine, yet you say he wants to take over Europe. We are not stupid.”

Robinson: “Globalist Wars”

Citizen journalist and nationalist activist Tommy Robinson is among those who have reacted to the former minister’s statement about duty and preparing for the possibility of war in the coming years.

He claims the establishment first stripped Britons of their national pride and now attempts to use it to mobilize the population against a new enemy in ‘globalist wars.’

But Robinson’s criticism does not stop there. He claims it’s about the establishment starting to air the idea of sending British soldiers to die in unnecessary wars abroad—wars which, he argues, are not the people’s wars but only the establishment’s.

He further accuses the establishment of having for years ridiculed and suppressed national pride, only to now attempt to reintroduce it to rally Britons against Russia.

“You think we will send our sons and daughters to die for national pride, while at the same time you have called us racists every time we have shown national pride.”

At the same time, he claims that politicians have imported migrants to Britain who are not themselves expected to fight in such a war. Robinson refers to developments in Ukraine and warns that Britons could become “cannon fodder” in a war, just as he claims young Ukrainians have been sent to the front.

The popular citizen journalist emphasizes that Britons do not want to fight against Christian men or take part in any struggle against Christianity. At the same time, he stresses this does not mean he is a supporter of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.

“It doesn’t mean I am pro-Putin or that Putin is fantastic or that their government is fantastic.”

Robinson says Russians are not the British people’s enemies and instead claims that the UK has other enemies. He argues that those enemies are already in the UK.

“But Russian men, honorable family men—you want to turn British men against them. They are not our enemy. We do have enemies, absolutely. We have people who want to oppress us, who want to murder us, and who rape our women from one end of this country to the other,” he says and continues:

“And guess what? They are not Russians.”

He concludes by saying that Britons may very well be prepared to defend their country, but not in what he describes as the politicians’ wars.

“This country will show national pride. Yes, the men in this country will rise up. But no, it won’t be against the Russians.”

“We will not go to war for you. We will fight against you.”