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Written question asked by Ian Lavery (Labour) on Friday, 20 March 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 24 March 2026. It was answered by Dan Jarvis (Labour) on Wednesday, 1 April 2026 on behalf of the Cabinet Office.


Armed Conflict and Diseases

Question

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what lessons his Department has learned about the impact of recent global conflicts and pandemics on UK strategic autonomy.

Answer

The UK National Security Strategy is clear that we need to increase our preparations for potential threats, from future pandemics to energy and supply chain disruption.

The UK's alliances and partnerships are critical to our safety and our collective security is a source of significant strength. But it must be delivered in the right way, mitigating against areas of over-dependence and moving instead towards interdependence.

We are embedding lessons from COVID-19, including those of the COVID-19 Inquiry. The largest ever national pandemic response exercise was conducted last year, testing coordination efforts across all regions and nations of the UK and we published the new Pandemic Preparedness Strategy in March 2026, alongside £1 billion of investment in health protection.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
122509
Session
2024-26
Subjects
Defence Armed conflict Diseases
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk