Chances of an accidental war with North Korea are ‘extremely great’, Sir Michael Fallon warns as he predicts Britain could be a target next
CHANCES of an "accident" triggering nuclear war with North Korea are "extremely great" and Britain could become a target next, Sir Michael Fallon has warned.
The Defence Secretary said he was "very concerned" about the escalating situation in the Pacific after multiple tests of missiles from the communist state.
He said the UK was watching the situation and working "extremely closely" with allies in the White House to try and bring a diplomatic solution for the crisis - but so far the tyrant leader has not shown any signs of wanting to talk.
President Trump has warned of "fire and fury" if Kim Jong-un continues developing dangerous weapons.
Appearing on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show this morning, Sir Michael said London could soon be a target for the dictator too.
He said: "What we have to avoid at all costs is this spilling over into any kind of military conflict, so we're working flat out at the UN to get a better resolution there, to enforce the existing sanctions, we're looking at sanctions across the EU and of course we're trying to persuade China to keep its neighbour in check."
But he said that the UK had to take the threat from North Korea seriously as we were closer to the country than America is.
The Defence Secretary argued: "I'm very concerned at the situation in the Pacific, the US is fully entitled to defend its own territory, to defend its bases and to look after its people.
"But this involves us, London is closer to North Korea and its missiles than Los Angeles."
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When asked whether they could possibly launch a missile at us, he said: "Not yet, but they are clearly accelerating their missile programme, the range is getting longer and we have to get this programme halted because the dangers now of miscalculation, of some accident triggering a response are extremely great."
It came as Nato Secretary Jens Stoltenberg described the regime as a “global” threat.
And there are rumours that the leader could launch another new nuke test any day now, and the US and Japan are continuing to stage war drills.
American and Japanese war planes flew side by side yesterday, in a show of force to war-mongering Kim.
International pressure on Kim's regime is now at boiling point after it fired a rocket over Japan before testing a hydrogen bomb last week.
Now he is feared to be readying another rocket launch.
But North Korean foreign office spokesman Ri Tok-Son said it was "preposterous" to think Pyongyang might attack Europe in the event of war.
He added: "They busied themselves ... making preposterous remarks like 'the nuclear missile of North Korea are military means that can strike Europe'.
"It is ridiculous to say that the nuclear weapons of the DPRK, the deterrent force against the nuclear threat and blackmail of the US, can aim at Europe.
"If nuclear weapons are such bad things, then France should first give up its nuclear weapons since it is not under anyone's nuclear threat."
Fallon denies UK were too slow with Hurricane Irma response
BRITAIN was prepared and was not late in pitching in to help Brits in overseas territories hit by Hurricane Irma, Sir Micheal Fallon has insisted.
The Defence Secretary said the Government's response had been "as good as anybody else's" and argued that ships were stationed there well before the storm was due to hit.
Around 500 troops have been sent to Anguilla, Turks and Caicos, and the British Virgin Islands.
Several people have died after extreme weather battled the islands - and now it's slamming into the south of Florida and causing even more devastation.
And today Sir Micheal hit back at claims Britain was too slow to act.
He told the Andrew Marr show this morning: "We weren't late. We pre-positioned a ship in the Caribbean for the hurricane season. It wasn't by chance."
And he said the military were continuing to step up their operations - they have delivered six tonnes of emergency aid so far, and cleared roads, runways and restored power to hospitals.