King’s Speech

Baroness Harris of Richmond Excerpts

Thursday 21st May 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Harris of Richmond (LD) [V]]

My Lords, before I start, I pay tribute to the RAF regiment with which I have strong connections, as is noted in my register of interests. Its role is not well known but it is essential, and it deserves public recognition from this House; so too does the RFA, spoken to so well by the noble Baroness, Lady Fraser of Craigmaddie.

I would like to have heard rather more about national security in the gracious Speech to help advance the short debate I initiated in Grand Committee on 20 April. Nevertheless, I am determined to continue that debate, which focused on our civil preparedness for war or major critical infrastructure disruption. I was delighted to hear the contribution from the noble Lord, Lord Forbes of Newcastle, who reiterated my remarks from that debate. Despite many assurances from the Minister, whom I greatly respect, when he responded to my short debate, my concerns remain.

The omission of the defence readiness Bill from the King’s Speech, kicking the can down the road until at least mid-2027, shows remarkable, even criminal, complacency by the Government, when we have kinetic war raging on the European continent, as well as hybrid warfare by Russia and China waged directly against the UK and its allies. This was wisely and vehemently expressed by the noble and gallant Lords, Lord Stirrup and Lord Houghton of Richmond, and others throughout this interesting and important debate.

In my town of Richmond, the community emergency plan appears to be driven by a community interest company—a CIC. It is a volunteer body, undoubtedly committed and well meaning, but our central and local government need to take the lead to give legal weight, authority and direction to what has to be done by our Civil Service, industry and citizens. No less than a whole-of-government approach is needed, putting in place the means to mobilise the whole nation if an existential crisis arises. Part 2 of our county emergency plan in North Yorkshire warns of the consequences of inaction:

“It can be chaotic if people do not know where reliable advice can be found; what is needed (and not needed) and to whom they should turn”.


In his critique of Understanding the UK’s Transition to Warfighting Readiness, former deputy police commissioner, David Gilbertson, relates how public order can quickly break down in crisis and the need to prepare for it. Chaos can easily be sown by our enemies. Hybrid warfare is destabilising Europe. Look at Russia’s shadow fleet activity, misinformation and disinformation and malign influence, cyber attacks, aggressive probing by drones in the sea and air, economic warfare and explicit threats—recall the Salisbury poisonings—and that is not to mention the existential threats we have of climate change and the looming energy crisis, now made incredibly more difficult since we seem to be letting Russia off the hook by reducing sanctions against buying its oil.

The Prime Minister’s national conversation on defence and security has yet to start, as noble Lords have already mentioned, and there has been little, if any, public engagement, and certainly no clear central direction on what that national conversation should look like. In his newspaper article of 16 March, the noble Lord, Lord Hague of Richmond, wrote:

“An act of national leadership is now required: to be frank with the country about the dangers and be clear that the funds for more tanks, ships, planes, drones, ammunition and recruits are vital”—


and, I would add, to be clear about how we, as civilians, should be preparing ourselves to ensure our survival in extremis.

As we presently lack a plan for homeland defence, notwithstanding the setting up of our own National Resilience Committee, chaired by the excellent noble Baroness, Lady Coussins, what action is being taken to strengthen our civil defence immediately? I do not believe we have the luxury of waiting until that report is produced at the end of November. What is being produced in the interim?

Being complacent about our country’s security is no longer tenable. Ukraine shows us that graphically. We do not have the luxury to implement plans in the casual way we have done in the past. It is time to get our act together to ensure our collective security and build the resilience of our nation.