Undersea Cables

Debate between Lord Vallance of Balham and Earl Attlee

Tuesday 3rd December 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Vallance of Balham (Lab)]

The cable system is regularly reviewed. As I said, 10 to 20 cable breaks occur per year, largely as a result of fishing, anchor pullage and undersea landslips. DSIT, the MoD and other parts of the system review this under the national risk assessment to keep looking at what is required for a resilient system.

[Earl Attlee (Con)]

My Lords, do we have an agreed retaliation doctrine?

[Lord Vallance of Balham (Lab)]

As I have said, the view is that, of the 10 to 20 breaks per year, nearly all are due to fishing vessels, anchors and natural events under the sea. Clearly, that is not a retaliation issue. I think the noble Earl is talking about malign attacks, and we have to wait for the outcome of the investigations into the current breaks.