Latest updates: amid concerns over suspected spy balloons and as part of review of global security, PM urged to deliver hawkish view
A former British ambassador to the US and national security adviser has questioned whether the UK has a “watertight capability” to deal with suspected Chinese spy balloons.
Asked if prime minister Rishi Sunak is right to suggest the UK has a “watertight rapid response to intercept these kind of things”, Lord Kim Darroch told Times Radio he is not totally confident this is the case.
I’m not, to be honest, but I wouldn’t want listeners to get very worried about that.
I’m not because I think we have under-invested in defence for the last couple of decades – one might argue ever since the end of the cold war – and we don’t have all the kit and equipment that we really need and there are gaps around in the technology our armed forces have.
It’s still, I think, unless we discover something new, it’s still well-known technology and it’s still basically surveillance, still basically spying, and the reality is an awful lot of that goes on everywhere.
Continue reading…Latest updates: amid concerns over suspected spy balloons and as part of review of global security, PM urged to deliver hawkish viewA former British ambassador to the US and national security adviser has questioned whether the UK has a “watertight capability” to deal with suspected Chinese spy balloons.Asked if prime minister Rishi Sunak is right to suggest the UK has a “watertight rapid response to intercept these kind of things”, Lord Kim Darroch told Times Radio he is not totally confident this is the case.I’m not, to be honest, but I wouldn’t want listeners to get very worried about that.I’m not because I think we have under-invested in defence for the last couple of decades – one might argue ever since the end of the cold war – and we don’t have all the kit and equipment that we really need and there are gaps around in the technology our armed forces have.It’s still, I think, unless we discover something new, it’s still well-known technology and it’s still basically surveillance, still basically spying, and the reality is an awful lot of that goes on everywhere. Continue reading…