Luke Pollard

The security of the United Kingdom’s military installations, the people who work on them and the communities around them is a core responsibility of this Government. Defence faces an evolving range of threats, including hostile reconnaissance, sabotage, espionage, terrorism, organised crime, unauthorised access and the malicious use of drones. We therefore keep the protection of our sites under constant review against the intelligence and threat picture. Our approach is layered and intelligence-led; it combines physical protection, access controls, surveillance, policing, guarding, aerial monitoring and counter-drone capabilities. We do not rely on any one single measure, and I hope the House will understand that it would be irresponsible to disclose details of vulnerabilities or protective arrangements at individual sites. Following the recent incidents at RAF Fairford and RAF Molesworth, Defence strengthened protection across the estate, including sites hosting the United States visiting forces. Enhanced vigilance remains in place, sites have reviewed their security posture, and additional policing, guarding and specialist support have been deployed where required. We continue to work closely with civilian police, the United States and local partners. There have been no further reported breaches since those incidents, but we are not complacent and continue to keep our security posture under review. We are also investing for the long term. The defence investment plan provides an additional £470 million over four years to improve security technology and infrastructure at military sites. More than £750 million is being invested in short-range counter-drone protection for the United Kingdom and deployed forces. We are expanding restricted airspace above Defence locations, and the Armed Forces Bill will strengthen Defence’s powers and ability to detect, identify and defeat uncrewed systems that threaten our sites and operations. No security can remove all risk. We continue to prioritise our most critical assets, adapt our arrangements as the threat changes, and ensure that anyone seeking to compromise a Defence site can expect a robust security and police response. You will appreciate, Madam Deputy Speaker, that there is much I will not be able to say in this urgent question, as we do not comment on intelligence matters or ongoing operations, but I do want to place on the record how proud I and the Defence Secretary are of our armed forces, security services and police, who are working so hard to keep our country safe.