Uk Column News — 19th October 2026

Brian Gerrish (0:16)

Good afternoon, today is Monday the 19th of October, 2026, just after one o'clock. Welcome to UK Column News. I'm your host, Brian Gerrish, delighted to have Mike Robinson with me in the studio. And we're joined by Charles Malet by Live Link. Now, we have a very busy news. Unfortunately, most of the news in UK, and indeed worldwide, seems to be serious these days. And war is one of the key topics. We'll be having a look at recent comments by head of the British Army. Mike will be having a more in-depth look at war. I will be taking a look at some of the comments made by Rhys Moog as he pontificates on history and warfare in the world. We'll be having a look at unrest in France. We'll be having a little look at EU controls coming up on Starlink.

We'll be having a look at reform in a new newspaper, which I think will be fascinating. We've got the subject of drought. And on good news, we're also going to be talking about the state of the fundraiser for Dr. Sam Bailey.

We've also got a report on the up and coming court case in the Netherlands, in Leeuwarden in Friesland on Thursday, which is where plaintiffs have taken civil action against Bill Gates and others. So I'll have a particular update on that. But let's kick off with you, Charles, and this amazing statement by Rowley Walker, really about prepare for war.

Charles Malet (1:59)

Thank you, Brian, and good afternoon all. Yes, it has become unusual in recent years to hear senior serving officers speaking out. So makes it all the more unusual when it's the head of British Army himself, the chief of the general staff, General Sir Rowley Walker. Now he's been in post since the summer of 2024

And over the last couple of years, he has absolutely been determined to push a narrative that the British Army remains a potent fighting force, despite a severe reduction in numbers and other capabilities, but also that he is determined to create what he calls increased lethality. Now, he was speaking, as Brian says, at Catterick Garrison to 700 soldiers last week. And this is what he said.

Roly Walker (2:52)

You didn't know this, but our nation is going to need you. There was a time that our nation didn't want to think of a time when it would need its soldiers to fight in a war.

Indeed, very soon, the political leaders of this country will start to have a frank conversation with the citizens of this country about just what is going on and where the risk lies. They're going to try and explain to our citizens that our citizens have got to consent to sacrifices to prioritize defense and security.

And then they're going to ask those citizens, whom we are not necessarily at the front of their mind, that they too need to play a part in the defense and security of this country. So they need to understand what we do for them. They need to consent to allow us to do that, which means sacrifices by them. And ultimately, we're going to need them to back us, to back you, to do the one thing that you do that nobody else gets to do, and that is to take the fight to the enemy.

Charles Malet (4:29)

A speech that seems neither particularly tightly scripted nor very well rehearsed, but quite a lot does come out of it. And of course, the main point there seems to be one of sacrifice. But he does elude very strongly to the fact that he knows something that nobody else there does. And he's talking about this frank conversation that politicians are going to be having and with the citizens and all the rest of it. What I'd like to do is go back to Brian and to Mike and just give give the audience your responses to what he says. I mean, where's he going with this?

Brian Gerrish (5:05)

Well, my my my response to that, Charles, is he doesn't actually know where he's going with this because of course, he will be completely fed the information that gives him his beliefs system. So he will get the briefings coming through the government, coming through the security services. You'll get all of the threat assessments and warnings.

And he will absolutely believe everything he's being told for the United Kingdom's intelligence services. But I agree, there is something happened, which has triggered him into going this step further and saying, I'm in the know and you, chaps, don't know what's coming. Now, what I am seeing at the moment is a real intent to ramp up war against Russia. And I think anybody at the moment, who thinks that our politicians haven't got the intent of war in their minds, I think you're missing the point. So I think this man has got a belief structure, and he's now unleashing that onto his troops. And he knows that something's coming. That's what I think.