Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions his Department has had with international partners on increasing the protection of undersea cables and pipelines, in the context of Russian maritime activity.

Subsea cables are critical to UK telecommunications digital infrastructure, and we are committed to maintaining and enhancing the security and resilience of that infra- structure. We continue to co-ordinate with HMG partners, particularly the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology who own subsea cables policy, as well as security partners, the subsea cables industry and international bodies, including NATO, to assess and respond to risks to subsea cables.