Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to recommendation 27 of the Strategic Defence Review: Making Britain Safer: secure at home, strong abroad, published on 2 June 2025, whether he plans to (a) update and (b) establish new legislation to protect UK critical national infrastructure by the end of the current Parliament.

The Strategic Defence Review set out the need for Defence Readiness legislation this Parliament to give the Government more robust or additional powers to make the UK safe. This could include measures to improve the preparedness of key industries including nuclear, to better protect our Critical National Infrastructure and to support the mobilisation of wider Defence, including industry reserves. As I set out to the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy on 30 June, a Defence Readiness Bill is potentially a legislative vehicle for the wider Government, not just Defence. We are therefore working closely across Government through the Cabinet Office-led Home Defence programme to shape our key requirements, and understand and identify the measures needed. This will lay the groundwork to introduce legislation when Parliamentary time allows, but we do not yet have a specific timescale for when this will come before Parliament.