Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the threat posed to underwater cables by foreign states; and what steps are being taken across Government to protect this infrastructure.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office works closely on this issue across government, in particular with the Ministry of Defence, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, which is the lead department for developing policies for the security and resilience of underwater energy infrastructure and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, which is the lead government department for telecommunications and is responsible for developing policies to help ensure the security and resilience of underwater telecommunications cables.