Speeches by Western.

“Would there have been an assessment by DBT or someone about the potential for food shortages as a result of the attack, or did you feel, as a Government, that it was pretty secure and not a concern?”

“On the recent cyber-attacks on Marks & Spencer and the Co-op, I am interested to know—given that there was clearly a coherent, integrated attack—what that would have looked like for you. Would that have been chronic? Would there have been an emergency Cobra? What would have happened over that weekend?”

“Finally, Pat, one of first things the new Government did was abolish the National Security Council’s economic security sub-committee. To what extent do you think the National Security Council is adequately considering these issues, given all the other matters that it has to deal with?”

“Do you think there are areas where it could be quite useful to introduce a more process-driven approach?”

“Obviously, it is about bringing together those who need to be brought together to ensure that everyone is working with common purpose. I was struck by the work of the Export Control Joint Unit, and how that is set out in a flow-chart, process-driven approach. Is that something that is being replicated in a very formali…”

“Pat, I imagine that working across Government is very difficult, given the kind of silo mentality that may exist in different Departments. There are many Departments involved with national security. What is your approach to make it work?”

“We heard just now that 1% of small businesses are aware of the NSCS. Is that a surprise to you, and what do you need to do to build awareness? If we are going to have a whole-society approach, small businesses may be vulnerable, as we know, but small businesses supply larger businesses, and that can affect the larger b…”

“On the point about how businesses interface with the NCSC, how good are they at using the cyber threat intelligence and assessment in making decisions, and how effective is the NCSC in informing that process?”

“Finally, we just heard from M&S—you may have been the room—about its situation with legacy systems, which is typical of all organisations. It was looking at the financial cost of doing that, and the cost to business that it has been hit with. What can Government do to incentivise more investment in this sphere by busin…”

“We heard from Marks & Spencer and the Co-op. Were you surprised or reassured by what you heard about their experiences?”

“What is your estimate of small businesses’ awareness?”

“This is a question for you, Katharina and Jamie. As external, independent observers of NCSC, what is your take on the impact it is having across society, business and the public sector?”

“On your point about the tech stack and what is happening in the US, is the EU doing more interesting stuff in that area now?”

“Ciaran, it has now been 10 years since the NCSC was first proposed. It came into being two years later. Is it realising what you imagined, or do you have any frustrations about its reach or how it is regarded by the public sector, Government and wider society?”

“There could be some fiscal incentive for businesses to focus on this.”

“Good to see you again, Mr Norman. I would like to pick up on the point about your legacy systems. I think that there is a learning there, maybe, for all of us—not just in the private sector but in the public sector. You mentioned the British Library. Compared with the £300 million, which you are saying is a gross estim…”

“This is a question for you, Richard. The Government talk about a whole-society approach to this challenge. How do you think our deployment of resources and investment in our capabilities, in both the private and public sector, are matching up against the investment of our adversaries?”

“I welcome this statement. The point about Exercise Pegasus reminds me of Exercise Cygnus, the findings of which, I am saddened to say, the previous Government ignored in advance of what then became the pandemic we faced. In recent weeks we have seen attacks on Marks & Spencer, the Co-op and others, and the fire at …”

“We need good community policing, but we also need good senior leadership teams in our forces. A recent review of Warwickshire police showed the leadership and the force management need improvement, and that its response times were inadequate. Would the Home Secretary look into Warwickshire police?”

“How could the sector help bring that about?”