🚨 National Resilience and Preparedness

• Debate Focus: The session focused on enhancing the UK’s national resilience and preparedness, covering areas like future pandemics, food security, and hybrid threats.

• Inspiration for Debate: Richard Foord was inspired by the Hallett inquiry into Covid-19, which criticized the UK’s preparedness for pandemics.

• Pandemic Preparedness: The session highlighted the UK’s inadequate preparation for Covid-19, as revealed by the Hallett inquiry. It pointed out the scattered responsibilities and lack of clear leadership in emergency planning, as well as the failure to act on past recommendations.

• Economic Impact of Covid-19: The UK experienced significant economic damage from the pandemic, including a deep recession and strain on public services like the NHS, attributed partly to poor preparedness.

• Food Security Concerns: The debate discussed the decline in UK’s food self-sufficiency and the need for a national food strategy to address food security, especially in light of climate change and post-Brexit trade disruptions.

• Hybrid Threats and Defence: There was discussion about the evolving nature of threats, including cyber-attacks and disinformation, necessitating a broader approach to defence beyond traditional military threats.

• International and Domestic Collaboration: The importance of international treaties, like the World Health Organisation’s pandemic preparedness treaty, was mentioned. Domestically, the need for a whole-of-society approach to resilience was emphasized, drawing examples from Finland’s comprehensive strategy.

• Government Response: The Minister outlined ongoing efforts to improve resilience, including the establishment of a sub-committee on resilience, a new floods resilience taskforce, and plans to respond to the Covid-19 inquiry’s recommendations.

• Future Actions: The Minister committed to reviewing national resilience, engaging with various stakeholders, and promised to integrate findings from the Covid and Grenfell inquiries into the strategy.

• General Call to Action: There was a strong call for proactive government action to strengthen emergency preparedness, enhance food security, and address hybrid threats effectively.

The level of disagreement in this session is minimal, warranting a rating of 1. Richard Foord initiates the debate by raising concerns about national resilience and preparedness, covering topics such as future pandemics, food security, and hybrid threats. The subsequent interventions from other members, including Jim Shannon, Sarah Dyke, Edward Morello, and Ben Maguire, are all in agreement with Foord’s perspective, adding to the points he raised and seeking further governmental action rather than opposing his views. The Minister’s response from Ms Abena Oppong-Asare acknowledges the concerns raised and outlines the government’s actions and plans to address these issues without any direct opposition to the points made by Foord or other members. There are no instances of direct contradiction or argument between the participants, and the session ends with a unanimous agreement to the motion. This indicates a session characterized more by shared concern and cooperative discussion than by disagreement.