Strength, Resilience and Partnership: Securing Britain and Defending Liberalism in Turbulent Times (International Security Policy Paper)

Chair: Dr Chris Adams (Vice Chair, FCC); Aide; Lord Mohammed; Hall Aide: Eleanor Kelly (Vice Chair, FCC)

Submitted by: Federal Policy Committee 
Mover: Calum Miller MP (Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs) 
Summation: Dr Ben Jones (Chair of the Policy Working Group)

Conference is deeply concerned that the critical assumptions that have shaped the security policy of the United Kingdom since the end of the Cold War can no longer be taken for granted; a period of relative stability in international politics has given way to one of deep uncertainty, upheaval, and turbulent change caused by:

1. Russia’s brutal and illegal invasion of Ukraine, wider disregard for international law, destabilising actions and threats to the security and democratic integrity of other states, which have undermined an already fragile postCold War European security settlement.
2. President Trump’s dangerous and intentional disregard for the multilateral international order that his predecessors helped to shape, including his direct threats to the territorial integrity of the UK’s close allies ,Canada and Denmark and his desire to ‘punish’ European allies over lack of support for his war with Iran, which has severely undermined decades of deep trust and interdependence between the US and the UK.
3. China’s ambition to become the dominant global power through its control of critical minerals and technological advances, creating systemic vulnerabilities for Britain’s national security, including through supply chain dependencies and risks to critical infrastructure.

Conference understands that the UK faces urgent and stark challenges driven by heightened great-power competition, rapid technological advances, climate change and the erosion of respect for long-standing democratic norms, international law and multilateral institutions.

Conference believes that it is therefore necessary to rethink how best to protect British national security interests and advance our Liberal values in this unfamiliar environment, and that the UK needs an international security policy that is both robust and adaptable to the broad range of circumstances that may emerge from the present upheaval.

Conference notes that on leaving office, the Conservatives left the armed forces in a parlous state and the UK’s relations with the European Union deeply damaged.

Conference supports the analysis and aims of the recent Strategic Defence Review, but is deeply disappointed by the Government’s lack of urgency and vigour in providing adequate funding and pursuing the necessary changes to national security policy.

Conference therefore endorses policy paper 164, Strength, Resilience and Partnership: Securing Britain and Defending Liberalism in Turbulent Times, and in particular its policies to:

1. Strengthen UK defences by:
   1. Maintaining and deepening British support to Ukraine, including through continued financial, diplomatic and military support.
   2. Ensuring that the armed forces, to whom the Liberal Democrats remain hugely grateful for their dedication and sacrifice, are properly equipped and trained to deal with the challenges of a rapidly evolving defence and security environment, particularly those related to game-changing technological advances.
   3. Meeting the NATO spending target of 3.5 per cent of GDP on core defence requirements and a further 1.5 per cent on ‘defence and security-related spending’ by 2035, and reaching 3 per cent by 2030, recognising that this will require difficult fiscal choices.
   4. Kickstarting investment in the regeneration of the armed forces by raising £20 billion through the sale of defence bonds.
   5. Ensuring that additional resources for defence are not wasted by increasing transparency, scrutiny and accountability of the Ministry of Defence, including through new bodies such as a dedicated House of Commons Defence Public Accounts Committee.
   6. Conducting a full assessment of the degree to which UK military capabilities need in the medium-to-long term to be fully sovereign, developed and operated with allies or acquired internationally ‘off-the-shelf’.
2. Work more closely with the UK’s European allies towards these aims by:
   1. Seeking to join the European Single Market, which would provide enhanced access to, and greater influence over, EU defence capability funding and development programmes.
   2. Supporting pooling, sharing and specialisation initiatives for military capabilities where appropriate to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of European defence spending.
   3. Proposing the creation of a European Security Council that would provide strategic leadership on defence industrial rationalisation and the joint development and operation of military capabilities, in order to better support the delivery of NATO’s operational requirements.
   4. Seeking UK involvement in EU military and civilian missions and deepening long-term EU–UK cooperation via diplomatic and military exchange programmes.
3. Build national resilience by:
   1. Establishing a new Civil Defence Office to coordinate and strengthen whole-of-society resilience.
   2. Creating a new Civil Volunteer Reserve to ensure that necessary skills can be made available to a national effort at short notice.
   3. Building whole-of-society resilience with a national conversation to raise public awareness of what is at stake.
   4. Ensuring that the UK meets its resilience commitments to NATO under Article 3 of the North Atlantic Treaty.
4. Defend the principle and practice of multilateralism by:
   1. Defending global institutions and norms which are critical to Britain’s national security and prosperity.
   2. Working with Canada and other like-minded ‘middle powers’ to develop an effective cooperation mechanism as a counterweight to states seeking to undermine multilateralism and the international rulesbased order.
   3. Prioritising and injecting greater urgency into efforts to strengthen or develop international agreements on new technologies, including autonomous weapons, and on risks relating to the use of space, and on effective global governance relating to AI that protects the safety and security of British citizens.
   4. Pushing polar and maritime security issues higher up domestic and international agendas.

Applicability: Federal

Mover and summation combined: 16 minutes; mover and summation of amendments: 4 minutes; all other speakers: 3 minutes. For eligibility and procedure for speaking in this debate, see page 10 of the agenda. You can submit a speaker's card online here or in person.

In addition to speeches from the platform, voting members will be able to make concise (maximum one-minute) interventions from the floor during the debate on the motion. See pages 10-11 of the agenda for further information.

The deadline for amendments to this motion is 13.00 Monday 7 September; see pages 11-12 of the agenda for more information.

Those selected for debate will be printed in Conference Extra and Saturday’s Conference Daily. The deadline for requests for separate votes is 09.00 Thursday 17 September; see page 9 of the agenda for more information.