How resilient is the UK to foreign interference through disinformation?
The Foreign Secretary has made no secret of the rising number of ‘hybrid threats’ seeking to undermine democracies in the UK and Europe.
Minister Stephen Doughty MP made it clear to MPs on the Foreign Affairs Committee this week that he views the ‘co-ordinated, well-funded information operations by hostile states’ as ‘information warfare’. During the session, the Minister made numerous references to the various government departments and associated agencies who have specific responsibilities in relation to defending the UK’s democratic institutions and processes. The Committee has grown increasingly concerned about the fragmentary approach and how lessons learnt internationally are supporting the defence of the UK’s democracy.
In this session, MPs turn to Professor Ciaran Martin, founding Chief Executive of the National Cyber Security Centre and Vijay Rangarajan, Chief Executive of the Electoral Commission, to assess the UK’s defence of its democratic institutions and processes from foreign interference.
Meeting details
The UK’s National Security Strategy was published in June 2025, identifying the challenges to national security and international policy. The Strategic Defence Review, described as a “root and branch review of defence” over the next 10 years, was also published in June. Other action plans to have emerged include a new Counter Political Interference and Espionage Action Plan; the Rycroft review into financial interference in UK politics and the Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill 2024-26. The House of Commons also established a Speaker’s Conference on the security of MPs, candidates and elections.
Across two separate panels, MPs will review the Government’s approach. The UK’s electoral integrity will also feature, ahead of local elections in May.
This will be the final evidence session of the Committee’s inquiry into Disinformation Diplomacy.