Sputnik News – February 26, 2020
Boris Johnson has ordered a major overhaul of Britain’s defence sector as part of a government review to determine the county’s post-Brexit course and ensure the nation is prepared for any potential threats, the BBC reported.
For the first time in decades, it will also cover the UK’s overseas operations, including aid cash.
Whitehall hopes insights from internal and external experts will challenge “traditional Whitehall assumptions”, regarding the diplomatic service, use of technology, tackling organized crime, etc.
Announcing the review, Boris said last night: “We must do more to adapt. We will be judged by how we respond to the opportunities ahead”, noting the UK could not “rest on our laurels”.
“As the world changes we must move with it – harnessing new technologies and ways of thinking to ensure British foreign policy is rooted firmly in our national interests, now and in the decades ahead”, the prime minister explained.
The government says it is set to “utilise expertise from both inside and outside government for the review, ensuring the UK’s best foreign policy minds are feeding into its conclusions and offering constructive challenges to traditional Whitehall assumptions and thinking”.
The UK’s last comprehensive security and defence review was completed in late 2015, before Britain voted to leave the EU. The new one, first announced by Johnson during his election as the “biggest since the Cold War” is expected to be outlined in a formal statement later on.