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Roula Khalaf, the FT editor, chooses her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
The writer is the chief of risk management policy at the long -term resistance center
Investigators will no doubt take some time to understand the cause of the fire that closed the Heathrow Airport on Friday, disrupting more than a thousand flights and affecting about 200,000 passengers. But it doesn’t take much time to see how vulnerable the UK is. In this case, an electric substation in a nearby suburbs provided a single point of failure for Europe’s busiest airport.
HUB airports have the energy requirements of small cities while, rightly, giving preference to security. Heathrow claims that it is not possible to create a copy of the energy generation required to direct his operations safely. This is not good enough. It should determine that the alternative supply is available from the network and can be ignited smoothly if necessary. More broadly, regulators should require all critical infrastructure providers to regularly evaluate weaknesses and stress test their ability to recover quickly.
As the global perspective continues to darken, policymakers are waking up for the lack of resistance of the United Kingdom – not only in the country’s infrastructure, but more widely throughout the economy and society. From the underwater cables to the power networks, the United Kingdom is exposed.
Pandemia should have focused minds, but little lessons seem to be learned. A report last week from the Center for Long-term Resistance reveals that the United Kingdom is in a worse position to respond to biological threats than before Covid-19. Today, the government has very low inter-departmental visibility of the main information where we derive pharmaceutical ingredients. This makes the coordinated action very challenging.
However, with the right vision and direction, we can create resistance. In the 1930s, the government saw through a widespread state reorganization, as it was laid in Whitehall, Peter Hennessy’s story of civil service. We need the same ambition now – smart reassessment at the head of government, a fundamental change of mentality in the civil service and a response that encompasses the whole society.
Resistance must become a high national advantage, accompanied by the right governance. National Security Advisor, renamed National Resistance and Security Adviser, must undertake to report to the prime minister. We need to learn from business and introduce a specialist resistance official to oversee a strengthened risk management process throughout Whitehall. Moreover, as recommended by the Covid investigation, an independent external legal body should be established to consider the government’s work on the resistance and challenge of the group of the group.
Pat McFadden, who runs the cabinet office, must direct a risk entrepreneurial approach throughout Whitehall, ensuring that civil servants learn to embrace, understand and manage the risk. While numerous reviews over the decades have all agreed, the civil service must design in the private sector talent, reward innovation and dexterity, and stimulate officials to work in departments. The government has promised reform. Really now has to deliver.
But the government does not have all the answers. Society also has a role to play. Following Sweden, which has introduced a new mandatory civic task, the United Kingdom can create a civil reservist framework across the country, focusing on emergency response and cyber protection training. These measures would not only help build the foundations for the resistance of the country, but would also give young people very necessary skills and foster a culture of national responsibility.
The government has pledged to spend more on the armed services in the United Kingdom and to invest in the military industrial capacity. This is necessary, but not enough for the range of extreme risks we face. We need to build a resilient place, as we have in the past. Fortunately, the fire that affects Heathrow has been extinguished and the services have resumed. We may not be so lucky next time.
