THE UK Government’s landmark Integrated Review on security and foreign policy is to set out a new framework of “increased international activism” to counter growing threats to the established global order from countries like Russia.
Boris Johnson will announce today that the review, conducted over the last year, will establish a White House-style Situation Centre in the Cabinet Office, soon to have a new HQ in Glasgow, and a Counter-Terrorism Centre to “tackle the threats of the future”.
At the same time, it will mark a strategic “tilt” towards the Indo-Pacific region, reflecting the view of ministers that it is increasingly becoming the “geopolitical centre of the world”.
This year the Queen Elizabeth Carrier will undertake its first operational deployment to the region, the UK is applying for partner status at the Association of South East Asian nations and at the end of April the Prime Minister is set to travel to India on his first major international visit following Brexit.
The 100-page document – entitled Global Britain in a Competitive Age – will map out plans for the armed forces to adopt the latest cutting-edge technologies such as drones and artificial intelligence, with a new focus on the future battlefields of space and cyber.
The review is being billed by Downing St as the “most comprehensive articulation of a foreign policy and national security approach published by a British Government in decades”.
It is expected to brand Russia, after the Salisbury poisoning incident, as a “hostile state” but be more nuanced about China, describing it merely as an economic “competitor”.
Mr Johnson, who will set out the broad thrust of the review in a Commons statement, will tell MPs: “I am profoundly optimistic about the UK’s place in the world and our ability to seize the opportunities ahead.
“The ingenuity of our citizens and the strength of our Union will combine with our international partnerships, modernised Armed Forces and a new green agenda, enabling us to look forward with confidence as we shape the world of the future.”
The review comes after the Government announced in November a £16.5 billion increase in defence spending over the next four years with the creation of an agency dedicated to artificial intelligence and a “space command” capable of launching the UK’s first rocket by 2022.
UK ministers have also said a “cyber corridor” across the north of England is being planned, where the headquarters of the new National Cyber Force will be based.
However, military chiefs have made clear the investment in new technologies will mean cuts to some “industrial age” capabilities.
The Army is expected to be the biggest loser with troop numbers expected to be slashed by more than 10,000, while its fleet of Challenger 2 main battle tanks is expected to be reduced by a third and the Warrior infantry fighting vehicle retired altogether.
The moves have alarmed some MPs, including Tobias Ellwood, the Conservative Chairman of the Commons Defence Committee, who yesterday said the country was about to witness a “shocking reduction” in its conventional hard power in favour of new “niche capabilities”.
The review coincides with a report from MPs on the Commons Public Accounts Committee[PAC], accusing defence officials of drawing up a 10-year military equipment and capabilities plan with a funding “black hole”, that is potentially as big as £17 billion, at its centre.
MPs said the MoD also faced additional cost pressures, estimated at more than £20bn, to develop future defence capabilities not yet included in the plan.
Labour’s Meg Hillier, who chairs the PAC, warned the new additional money was in danger of being “swallowed whole” by the gaps in the MoD budget.
“What is crucial is that this new money is not instead just eaten up, once again, by the constant, debilitating time and budget overruns that have been eroding our national defence and security for years,” she insisted.
The committee’s report warned of “tough choices” when it came to implementing the equipment plan and recommended that within three months of the Integrated Review being published, the MoD “should provide full transparency on its allocation of the additional funding”, including “disinvestment decisions” and how the fresh funding will be used to “address existing shortfalls”.
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