Oral Answers to Questions

Lee Anderson Excerpts

Thursday 31st March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Stuart C. McDonald (Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East) (SNP)]

1. What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on improving the UK's cyber resilience.

[Lee Anderson (Ashfield) (Con)]

12. What steps the Government is taking to strengthen domestic cyber resilience against potential impacts from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

[The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Steve Barclay)]

Our new national Government cyber security strategy sets out our approach to making the UK more resilient to cyber attacks and countering cyber threats. We have undertaken significant outreach within the Government and critical national infrastructure, including with the UK devolved Administrations, to provide mitigating advice to bolster UK preparedness.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lee Anderson]

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been a wake-up call for everyone in this country. We are under threat of cyber attack every single day. What lessons have the Government learned from the invasion to prevent cyber attacks on our schools, education, transport system and all the things that we rely on every day?

[Steve Barclay]

My hon. Friend raises an important point. Before the Russian invasion, the rationale for the national cyber strategy that we launched in December was to make the UK more resilient. As we have just discussed, that requires a whole of society approach, but it also requires specific action within Government, which is why I launched the further Government cyber strategy, working closely with the National Cyber Security Centre, which is a world leader in its field.