Lords committee launches new inquiry into the Government’s ambitions on defence

The House of Lords International Relations and Defence Committee, chaired by Baroness Anelay of St Johns, today invites written submissions to its new inquiry into the Government’s ambitions for defence set out in the March 2021 Defence Command Paper, and how these relate to the ambitions of the Integrated Review.

It will assess how, one year on from publication, the Ministry of Defence is planning to translate the aspirations of the Defence Command Paper into reality, and will explore the extent to which the Russian invasion of Ukraine may have changed the UK’s assessment of the risk of conventional versus ‘sub-threshold’ warfare.

The Committee is seeking evidence on issues including:

• The Defence Command Paper and its alignment with the Integrated Review
• The types of warfare the UK Armed Forces are prepared to respond to, and comparisons with the capabilities of other NATO countries
• The size of the Armed Forces
• The UK’s assessment of and ability to respond to ‘sub-threshold’ threats
• The extent to which Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has changed the assessment of risk
• Technological innovation in Defence, including the potential role of ARIA
• Whether cultural change is needed within Defence.

The deadline for the submission of written evidence is Friday 17 June 2022.

Read the call for evidence and find out how to submit evidence.