Dan Jarvis

My hon. and gallant Friend has asked an astute question. He obviously heard my reference to the initiation of an internal piece of work, and a review of the national terrorism threat level. In truth, that has long been on my mind, and I want to satisfy myself that current arrangements are fit for purpose. Those current arrangements have served our country fairly well for a number of years, but I feel as if they have now been overtaken by events. It is therefore appropriate to look carefully at the way the threat level is not only calibrated, but communicated, and I want a system that makes some sense to the public. We will look carefully at that. I will consider the recommendations over the coming months, and I am obviously happy to discuss the matter further with my hon. Friend and other Members. He made a further important point about the strategic defence review and the need to have an ongoing conversation with the public, and he is right to remind us of that. I discuss such matters not only with colleagues across Government, but also with our European partners who, it is not unreasonable to say, have taken a somewhat more forward-leaning approach than UK Governments going back a number of years. We must ensure that the public understand the nature of the threats we face, and do so in a way that ensures they are alert but not alarmed.