Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress has been made on building national resilience since the Strategic Defence Review.

The Government has worked to build national resilience through the Cabinet Office-led Home Defence Programme. This has seen extensive engagement across Government, and with industry experts, academia, devolved administrations, and local partners to improve national preparedness. Across the Home Defence Programme, Defence plays a key role in aligning military and civil coordination and planning, developing the cross-government National Conversation, building the resilience of Critical National Infrastructure (CNI), and developing proposals for legislation.

The Defence Investment Plan includes significant investment in new capabilities which will support national resilience. This includes additional funding for Integrated Air and Missile Defence, cyber and electromagnetic services, and space-based capabilities.

Alongside the Government’s commitment to rewriting the War Books, the Government is also preparing a comprehensive exercising and testing programme for Spring 2027, including ALBISTON SHADOW, the largest UK home defence exercise in decades. We will test and exercise those plans both in the UK and with our NATO allies.