National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review

Amber Rudd Excerpts

Wednesday 7th December 2016 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Amber Rudd)]

Today, I am pleased to announce the publication of the 2016 annual report of the national security strategy and strategic defence and security review (SDSR). I have placed a copy in the House of Commons Library.

The 2015 national security strategy and SDSR set out our vision of a secure and prosperous United Kingdom with global reach and influence. We identified the values and approach we would rely on to deliver our strategy, and set out three overarching national security objectives: protect our people; project our global influence; and promote our prosperity. In support of each of these objectives, we committed to specific actions and changes, on which we have instigated a cross-government programme of activity, overseen by a new sub-committee of the National Security Council (NSC).

In the SDSR, we committed to giving Parliament an annual update on implementation of the strategy. This first annual report on the SDSR sets out our progress in delivering on our commitments and shows how the strategy is already helping the United Kingdom face up to the threats and challenges posed by a changing world.

As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister says in her foreword to the annual report, much has changed since the national security strategy and strategic defence and security review was published in November of last year—not least the United Kingdom’s historic decision to leave the European Union. But the principal threats to our national security remain the same. We are witnessing the resurgence of state-based threats—as displayed most obviously by Russia’s actions in Syria and Ukraine; terrorism and extremism threaten our security; cyber-attacks are on the increase from both state and non-state actors, and we face renewed challenges to the rules-based international order that provides the bedrock of our security. Some of the great global challenges of our time, such as the phenomenon of mass migration, have become more pronounced in the last 12 months.

We should be confident of the United Kingdom’s ability to rise to these challenges, drawing on our great strengths as a nation, and the relevance and strength of our national security strategy.

The decision to leave the EU carries significant implications for the UK in many areas of political and economic engagement. In the national security context, however, the threats and challenges to UK national security have not fundamentally changed as a result of the decision to leave. The UK remains fully and strongly committed to Europe’s defence and security and we continue to play an active role in security and defence co-operation across Europe. As we leave the European Union, we will be more prominent than ever: an outward-facing, global partner at the heart of international efforts to secure peace and prosperity for all our people.

In the SDSR, we made 89 principal commitments. We have completed 12, and set in train 38 more which will be ongoing throughout this Parliament. The SDSR pledged to deliver a number of complex major projects and programmes, some with a delivery timescale of a decade or more; progress on these is as we would expect at this early stage.

Britain continues to lead the way in responding to global challenges that affect our security and prosperity. The UK is the only country in the G20 to meet both the NATO target of 2% of GDP on defence spending, and 0.7% of GNI on overseas development assistance. British leadership on defence and security issues is supported and reinforced by the strength of our economy and our unique international influence and soft power, enabling us to work with our allies and partners around the world to deliver our national security strategy.

[HCWS329]