Britain’s science secretary has warned Britain is “desperately exposed” to cyber threats and the upheaval of another pandemic, claiming national resilience suffered “catastrophically” under the previous government.
Deep cuts in public spending under the austerity program have slashed the NHS and other local and national services, and hampered pandemic preparedness exercises, Peter Kyle told the Guardian, while too little has been done to address rising cyber security risks.
Kyle, who was appointed science secretary when Work came to power three weeks ago, said that “open warfare” in Tory ranks appeared to have prevented former ministers from working together to ensure the country was well prepared for future threats.
“National resilience has suffered terribly, catastrophically,” he said. “The open belligerence of the previous government prevented any kind of progress in these areas and left our country desperate, not only for a future pandemic, but also for cyber security issues.”
Renewed concerns about cyber threats to Britain led to an abrupt change in plans for the King’s Speech, with the long-awaited AI Bill pushed out to make way for a new Cyber Security and Resilience Bill.
“When I became secretary of state, within a very short period of time, and I’m talking hours, not multiple days, I became very, very aware that there was a cyber security challenge that faced our country that I was simply not aware. from before he became secretary of state,” Kyle said. The threat led him to present a request for the new CS&R bill, which had “national security priority”.
“We are preparing the [AI] bill, we are consulting on the bill and we will have the bill ready to go,” he added. “We are committed to legislating for AI.”
The National Cyber Security Center warned last week that despite progress with government and industry, Britain was overtaken by those who wanted to attack the country. In particular, it said the “scale, pace and complexity” of threats to critical national infrastructure (CNI), such as water, power and healthcare, were increasing.
Beyond ransomware attacks, the NCSC is now seeing an increase in state and state-related groups targeting the nation’s CNI. The CS&R bill would make it more difficult for malicious actors to exploit weaknesses in CNI supply chains, the organization said.
Kyle said further work was needed to boost the UK’s preparedness for a future pandemic. The first report of the Covid inquiry, released two weeks ago, offers a damning assessment of the country’s pandemic planning, describing it as fraught with “fatal strategic mistakes“. Little has improved since then, experts suggest.
Responding to the Covid inquiry report, the head of the British Medical Association said the UK was “still largely underprepared” another pandemic would hit. In January, Dr Clive Dix, the former chairman of the UK’s vaccine task force, told MPs of “complete failure” in efforts to ensure the UK is well equipped with vaccines for the next pandemic.
“We are not in the place where we need to be, to be as resilient as we should be, the Covid query exposed it,” Kyle said. “We’re picking up the pieces of it, and it’s a task we take very seriously.”
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His comments come as the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, prepare to announce an expected £20 billion hole in public finances inherited from the Tories. While Reeves is expected to be a above-inflation pay rise for millions of public sector workers on Monday, a whole range of road and hospital projects are at risk of being delayed.
The fiscal black hole means there is no relief in sight for overseas scientists, who face steep visa fees and surcharges to work in the UK. Before the election, Dr John-Arne Røttingen, the head of the Wellcome Trust, said the next government must “urgently reduce the upfront costs” for talented researchers, adding that some could not afford to move here because of the “tax on talent”.
Analysis of the Royal Society revealed that a researcher granted a five-year global talent visa and who has a partner and two children would face immediate fees of £20,974. Total upfront UK visa costs are 17 times higher than the international average, it said. Cancer Research UK said the immigration system was holding back progressafter its scientists and institutes were hit with a 44% rise in visa costs to almost £700,000 this year.
“I am aware of this particular challenge, but as the Secretary of State I see all the challenges and all the potential around,” Kyle said. “I have to see where it fits in with all the other challenges and opportunities, and where I see a need for adaptation, I will start making representations to the relevant departments.”
