Laura Kyrke-Smith
Main Page: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)Department Debates - View all Laura Kyrke-Smith's debates with the Ministry of Defence
(2Â days ago)
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Laura Kyrke-Smith (Aylesbury) (Lab)
The Secretary of State for Defence (Wes Streeting)
The strategic defence review published last year set out that defence must play a stronger role in protecting our homeland. The Ministry of Defence is taking a whole-of-Government approach, working closely with the Cabinet Office and particularly the Home Office. We are bringing together industry, civil society, emergency services and the public to help build a whole-of-society approach to resilience and preparedness. We are refreshing our homeland defence plans, we will introduce a defence readiness Bill, and we are strengthening critical national infrastructure resilience. I look forward to keeping the House updated, including on the actions that Members can take and ways they can support their constituents, and to supporting the national conversation that is under way.
Laura Kyrke-Smith
Whether the threat is from Russia, Iran or rogue AI agents, keeping our country safe is the precondition for growth and progress here at home. Protecting ourselves means protecting the critical national infrastructure on which our constituents’ lives depend, whether that is our banking systems, road and rail networks, or electricity grid. As the Chief of the Defence Staff and the Secretary of State have said, we face a society-wide threat, and we must prepare and respond with a society-wide effort. Will the Secretary of State say more about what he is doing with Cabinet colleagues to protect our critical national infrastructure, and will he advise my constituents on what they can do to play their part in keeping us all safe?
Wes Streeting
The Prime Minister has announced threat briefings for CEOs from sensitive sectors, including defence and critical national infrastructure operators, to strengthen their understanding of the threats we face and improve our collective resilience. The Government have announced a national resilience public awareness campaign and a wider national conversation on defence and resilience to improve public preparedness. Individuals can play their part by following the preparedness advice on gov.uk, and we will all have a role to play in getting those messages across. Finally, we should be clear that those threats do not come just from overseas and that the aggressive targeting of defence industry leaders by protesters here at home is not acceptable. We will not tolerate the intimidation of people who are doing a job for our country.