Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will establish a cross-Government expert group to help (a) innovate responses and (b) devise policy counter-measures to (i) non-traditional and (ii) hard-to-trace grey-zone activities of (A) malign state actors and (B) their proxies who are seeking to undermine UK national (1) economic and (2) security interests.

As set out in the Plan For Change, this Government’s first duty is to make the UK safer, more secure, and resilient against the growing and interconnected threats from state, state-linked and non-state actors. We are committed to working across Government, as well as with partners internationally and in the private sector and academia, to prevent harm; deter and disrupt threats; respond effectively to incidents; and recover swiftly.

Work is already underway across Government to deliver this commitment, and requirements for any new structures or groupings will be kept under review, including in the context of the ongoing development of the National Security Strategy.