Trade minister Douglas Alexander and Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden to face BTC questions on the adequacy of the UK’s economic security regime
- Spate of costly cyber-attacks combine with concerns over critical technologies, supply chains and foreign investment
This is the final evidence hearing in the BTC sub-Committee's inquiry on economic security, during which stakeholders have raised serious concerns about the UK’s approach to growing and in some cases co-ordinated threats.
Meeting details
Weeks of expert testimony have exposed potential weaknesses in UK national economic security ranging from hostile ownership of critical infrastructure to the UK’s capacity to respond in the event of simultaneous attacks across multiple sectors.
As the UK hunts for badly needed investment to drive economic growth and productivity gains there are serious questions about whether the UK can “afford” to accept what foreign direct investment is on offer. China accounts for 0.2% of the UK’s inward investment but with its concentration in critical energy, telecoms and transport technologies even this relatively low number has been cause for serious concern and debate across successive Parliaments.
The case of Huawei shows the costs of a “back-foot”, reactive security regime: in the rollout of 5G across the UK, the government mandated a complete, phased removal of Huawei equipment already embedded in the nascent 5G network, alongside a ban on installing new Huawei equipment.
The expected £2 billion costs of the removal will be fully borne by the telecoms industry and are expected to add 2-3 years to the rollout of 5G: with obvious impacts on the contribution of the sector to wider economic growth.
Does the UK Government have a strategic, co-ordinated response that is resourced commensurate with the wide and growing threats to its economic growth and security?
Rt Hon Liam Byrne MP, Chair of the Committee, said: “This inquiry has laid bare a harsh truth: the safety and security of our economy which pays for the defence of the realm now faces new threats with defences that are out of date. Just as we plan to modernise our armed forces, so we must modernise the defence of the economy that pays for them and supplies them.
“From hostile ownership of critical infrastructure to simultaneous cyber-attacks on major firms, we are exposed—and we are underprepared. The Huawei case shows what happens when governments are caught on the back foot: billions in sunk costs, years added to rollout, and growth delayed. That cannot become the norm.
“So as we chase foreign investment to revive growth, the question now is not just how much, but from whom—and at what price to our sovereignty and security.
“On Wednesday we’ll be asking Ministers Alexander and McFadden the central question: does the Government’s meet the times, or are we still patching the roof in a storm?”