Today in the House of Commons chamber, the Shadow Home Secretary asked the Government an Urgent Question about the recently released Intelligence and Security Committee’s report examining Russian interference in British democracy.
The long-awaited report, which was published yesterday, damningly stated the Government had “badly underestimated the Russian threat and the response it required”. In his remarks Nick Thomas-Symonds MP criticised the Government for this delay, describing their failure to publish it before the election as a “dereliction of duty”.
Mr Thomas-Symonds MP asked:
“When will the Government stop playing catch up? Anyone who saw the Prime Minister’s failure to engage on this at Prime Minister’s questions will be extremely worried. When will the Government treat this matter with the seriousness that it deserves, act on the findings of the report and put the security of our country first?”
A video of this Urgent Question can be watched below, and a full transcript is accessible here: https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2020-07-22/debates/8FB95D9A-A489-4F3C-8840-017A7A00949A/IntelligenceAndSecurityCommitteeRussiaReport.
In my Urgent Question on the Russia Report I called for concerted action from the Government and that commitment was worryingly lacking, whilst the Prime Minister fell woefully short on his answers to @Keir_Starmer, not taking National Security seriously. pic.twitter.com/5QdXdZdO7e
— Nick Thomas-Symonds MP (@NickTorfaen) July 22, 2020