| Author (Corporate) | United Kingdom: Parliament: Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy |
|---|---|
| Publisher | United Kingdom: Parliament |
| Series Title | 1st Report |
| Series Details | (2017-19)HC756 / HL104 |
| Publication Date | 23/03/2018 |
| Content Type | Policy-making, Report |
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The United Kingdom Parliament (House of Commons and House of Lords) Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy published a report National Security Capability Review: A changing security environment on the 23 March 2018. This report highlighted some key issues that the NSCR should address and made initial comments on the process. The report was published at the same time as escalating tensions between Russia and the United Kingdom over the Skripal affair. The House of Commons debated National security and Russia on the 26 March 2018. Further information The National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 published on the 23 November 2015 set out the United Kingdom government's approach to national security for the following five years, and how it would be implemented. The United Kingdom Parliament (House of Commons and House of Lords) Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy published a report reviewing the implementation of the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 on the 10 July 2016. In July 2017 the UK Government announced that it had initiated work on a review of national security capabilities (NSCR), in support of the ongoing implementation. The NSCR was still underway, but the Committee’s Report in March 2018 offered preliminary comments on the process and key issues that the Review should address. The election of the Trump administration in the United States, the UK’s decision to leave the European Union, intensifying threats to the UK’s security and a significant structural hole in the defence budget all presented real reasons to revisit the 2015 National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review before the next expected review in 2020. But the decision to focus on capabilities, and not the underlying strategy, does not do justice to the changes to the wider security environment, said the Joint Committee. The announcement in January 2018 of the Modernising Defence Programme (MDP) puts work on defence on a different basis and timeline from the rest of the Review. It appeared that the NSCR had inadvertently become an uncomfortable ‘halfway house’ between a ‘quick refresh’ of national security capabilities and a full review. An honest conversation on defence spending was required if the Government was to match ambitions for national security with the realities of the UK’s capabilities and funding. Nonetheless, the Review offered an opportunity to improve cross-government security policy and the Joint Committee welcomed the Government’s apparent focus on deterrence and resilience as a way of achieving this. It particularly called on the Government to focus on deterring threats that fell short of an act of war. The Joint Committee also called on the Government to confirm the future of the NSS and SDSR process, including when the next full review would be held and whether it would be run by the Cabinet Office alongside a Spending Review. |
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| Source Link | Link to Main Source https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt201719/jtselect/jtnatsec/756/756.pdf |
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| Subject Categories | Security and Defence |
| Countries / Regions | United Kingdom |
