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Counterterrorism

Volume 703: debated on Tuesday 22 July 2008

My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Defence (Mr Des Browne) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

In July 2007, the Prime Minister asked my right honourable friend the Member for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow (Mr Ingram) to undertake a detailed study into the role of the Ministry of Defence in counterterrorism and resilience. Mr Ingram has now submitted his report.

His study provides a thorough analysis of the Ministry of Defence’s role and of the capabilities it brings to bear in support of the Government’s counterterrorism strategy—CONTEST—and domestic resilience. It reinforces a central theme of the national security strategy—that security threats and hazards are intertwined, with no simple distinctions between defence and wider security and between domestic and overseas considerations. It endorses the direction in which the Government are moving the security agenda, and it makes a number of recommendations as to how the Ministry of Defence could further refine its support in these important areas.

Given the sensitive nature of the study, its classification prevents its publication. The Government will respond to it once they have had the opportunity to consider the recommendations.