Defending Democracy Taskforce

Baroness Alexander of Cleveden Excerpts

Monday 12th January 2026 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Alexander of Cleveden]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what recent progress the Defending Democracy Taskforce has made on protecting democratic institutions.

[The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Hanson of Flint) (Lab)]

The taskforce is driving forward a whole-of-government response to the threats to our democratic institutions. Recent progress includes developing new legislation to address the abhorrent harassment and intimidation experienced by elected representatives, the provision of personal cyber security advice, and the rollout of new National Protective Security Authority guidance to help protect those working in our democracy.

[Baroness Alexander of Cleveden (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend the Minister. It seems wholly appropriate to have a Question this afternoon on defending democracy and democratic elections, although that is, of course, entirely coincidental. The Defending Democracy Taskforce is the main mechanism for tackling foreign interference in our elections. It is concerning that there has been no action to date by Ofcom under the foreign interference offence in the Online Safety Act. In this fast-moving arena, will my noble friend the Minister consider enhancing the status of the Defending Democracy Taskforce by bringing an annual Statement to Parliament about its work and key findings, and, as a signal of intent prior to any elections, consider publishing an overview of key threats identified to date to the UK’s electoral processes?

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

My noble friend makes some valuable points. The Security Minister, the honourable Dan Jarvis, has already announced in November that he is co-ordinating a cross-government, counterpolitical interference and espionage action plan, which will report back to Parliament, in due course, from Ministers across government. A significant number of achievements have been made to date. I will take away my noble friend’s suggestions and report back to her in due course.