UK facing global insecurity with ‘one hand tied behind its back'

Times

3 hours ago

Britain is confronting a period of unprecedented global insecurity with 'one hand tied behind its back' because of potential cuts to the UK's conflict resolution budget, two former heads of MI5 have warned.
In a letter to Sir Keir Starmer, Lord Evans of Weardale and Baroness Manningham-Buller — both former director-generals of MI5 — have joined more than 60 senior military, political and intelligence figures calling on the prime minister to rethink government plans that deprioritise peacebuilding work.
The letter is also signed by Lord Sedwill, the former cabinet secretary and national security adviser, as well as Lord Dannatt, the former chief of the general staff, and Sir Andrew Graham, ­deputy commander of coalition forces in Iraq.
The signatories call on Starmer to ringfence the UK's 'vital work in the prevention and resolution of conflict' from budget cuts, before the publication of the government's national security strategy, expected this month.
At last week's spending review, ministers announced that the amount of aid money available to the government's £1 billion integrated security fund, which includes conflict resolution work, would be cut from £326 million to £194 million next year.
However, senior figures in national security believe these cuts will be self-defeating and dent the UK's ability to deal with problems like conflict-driven migration before they affect the UK.
The letter is also backed by a number of prominent politicians including the chairs of the Commons defence and international development select committees, as well as Lord Kinnock, the former Labour Party leader.
In the letter they warn Starmer that violent conflict is affecting more countries than at any point since the Second World War, fuelling migration and disrupting economies.
At the same time they say the UK is retreating from aid initiatives that 'prevent, resolve and address the root causes of conflicts' and 'help societies recover'.
'We are gravely concerned that these initiatives may disappear amidst cuts to the aid budget,' they write. 'This would be a false economy, as conflicts left to escalate and spread will lead to further insecurity, forced displacement and humanitarian crises to which the armed forces and aid agencies must respond.'
They are calling on the government to make a clear commitment in the forthcoming national security strategy to adequately fund the integrated security fund with a ringfenced budget.
Without this, they warn, the UK risks facing the global conflict crisis 'with one hand tied behind its back'.
Ministers have said they would publish the national security strategy before the Nato summit in the Hague next week. It is expected to place greater emphasis on resilience to non-traditional threats, including cyberattacks and technological competition with China.
Evans, who was director-general of MI5 until 2013 and now chairs the landmine clearance charity the Halo Trust, said that he was concerned that the government was prioritising 'clearing up the mess' after conflicts had occurred rather than preventing them in the first place.
'In practical terms if you can stop a conflict early then surely that represents good value for money,' he said.
Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale, a former UK special representative for peacebuilding, added: 'The UK is rightly building up our armed forces to deter violent conflict, but we must also invest in conflict prevention and resolution.
'If we do not, we will be engaging with one hand tied behind our back. The national security strategy and the budget allocations following the spending review should ensure defence, diplomacy and development work hand in hand.'