Source · Select Committees · National Security Strategy (Joint Committee)
Recommendation 22
22
Accepted in Part
The UK’s military deterrence concepts are too timid.
Recommendation
The UK’s military deterrence concepts are too timid. They need to place greater emphasis on prevention and punitive consequences that go beyond private or public attribution. Otherwise, aggressors that are content with ‘implausible deniability’ can cause damage with minimal risk to themselves. The Government should work with NATO to ensure that monitoring schemes are designed to enable speedy data sharing with law enforcement authorities—which in turn should support timely investigations, and more direct physical interdiction and prosecution where needed. (Recommendation, Paragraph 141)
Government Response Summary
The government partially agrees, stating deterrence concepts are under constant review and leveraging NATO. They acknowledge the importance of effective data sharing, which remains a firm requirement in existing programmes, but do not commit to designing new schemes with NATO for speedy data sharing.
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government
Accepted in Part
We partially agree with this recommendation. Military deterrence and the need for robust responses to aggression are critical priorities for the UK and our allies. Our deterrence concepts are kept under constant review to ensure they remain adaptable to the evolving threat landscape. By leveraging alliances such as NATO, we enhance our credibility and ensure that collective security frameworks remain agile, effective, and responsive to emerging challenges. We acknowledge the importance of effective data sharing with partners and this remains a firm requirement in all our programmes.