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Brown unveils security strategy Brown unveils security strategy
(about 4 hours later)
Prime Minister Gordon Brown is to set out plans to deal with national emergencies such as terror attacks, disease pandemics and flooding. Gordon Brown has set out plans to deal with national emergencies such as terror, disease pandemics and flooding.
Britain's first National Security Strategy will set out the role of the government, police, security services and the public in handling disasters. The National Security Strategy also proposes that the "national register of risks" be made available to the public.
Security Minister Lord West said: "We need to let people know what the risks are and what the government is doing." The prime minister said the number of security service staff would rise to 4,000 and that there would be new moves to secure the UK against cyber-attacks.
But the Tories said there was a risk of the strategy becoming a "talking shop". He also said there would be a 1,000 person civilian task force to be sent to trouble-spots around the world.
Mr Brown will outline the government's ideas in a statement to MPs at about 1230 GMT. This would include police, emergency services and judges and would be put on standby to help failing states and countries emerging from conflict.
Scrutiny Commitment bonus
The strategy, which is four months behind schedule, is expected to rank climate change and extreme weather as being as much of a risk as terrorism. Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr Brown said Britain would use diplomacy to reduce the number of nuclear weapons in the world.
A report in The Times suggests Mr Brown will call on MI5, MI6 and the intelligence-gathering organisation GCHQ to become more transparent and open to scrutiny. Among other changes, he also said there would be £15,000 commitment bonuses for long-serving military personnel and a £20m fund to help armed forces purchase homes.
BBC Security correspondent Gordon Corera said the strategy would put "an emphasis on the new, complex, interrelated nature of risk and the need for greater public awareness. SECURITY STRATEGY National 'register of risks'Increase security services personnel to 4,000Civilian task force to be sent to trouble spotsEfforts to reduce numbers of nuclear weapons around the world£15,000 bonus to long-serving armed forces staffRegional counter-terrorism centres to help policeMoves to protect UK from cyber-attacksReview of role of reserve forces class="" href="/1/hi/uk_politics/7304999.stm">In full: Brown's statement
The issue is the government's competence to deliver Dame Pauline Neville-JonesConservatives Four regional counter-terrorism units and four regional intelligence units would be set up to help the police.
"The challenge for government will be transforming this ambitious framework into effective action." Meanwhile, the government has launched a review of the role of the Territorial Army and other reserve forces.
Lord West, the former head of the Royal Navy, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "No country has ever done this before... We should be rather proud of that." Mr Brown said threats to Britain had "changed out of all recognition" in recent years and that tactics had to alter accordingly.
He added: "There are a lot of people out there who know a lot about these complicated areas that are very interdependent and need a co-ordinated response." "Our new approach to security also means improved local resilience against emergencies, building and strengthening local capacity to respond effectively in a range of circumstances from floods to possible terrorism incidents," he said.
The drawing up of such a document and getting Whitehall departments to agree on it does not appear to have been an easy task. "Not the old Cold War idea of civil defence but a new form of civil protection that combines expert preparedness for potential emergencies with greater local engagement of individuals and families themselves."
Lord West said it would be a "living document", which would be constantly updated. It would look at risks to the UK in a global context, he added. Mr Brown also announced reforms of the Intelligence and Security Committee, a parliamentary body which oversees the security services MI5 and MI6, and other areas.
'Lurching' He promised "greater transparency" and said the ISC's role would become more like House of Commons select committees, which hold their sessions mainly in public rather than in secret.
He said: "We've done a lot. For example, in counter-terrorism I think I can put my hand on my heart and say, in the last year that - although the risk hasn't gone away - we are safer than we were a year ago." Extreme weather
But Conservative leader David Cameron said the prime minister's statement had "sounded more like a list than a strategy".
The National Security Strategy ranks climate change and extreme weather as being as great a risk to Britain as terrorism.
But the Conservatives say the government has to set up a permanent security council to implement its strategy, rather than rely on existing committees, or risk becoming "some sort of talking shop".But the Conservatives say the government has to set up a permanent security council to implement its strategy, rather than rely on existing committees, or risk becoming "some sort of talking shop".
Shadow security minister Dame Pauline Neville-Jones said: "The issue is the government's competence to deliver."
A report by think-tank Demos warned recently that the government was "lurching from one crisis to another" and leaving the country vulnerable to attack.A report by think-tank Demos warned recently that the government was "lurching from one crisis to another" and leaving the country vulnerable to attack.
It said: "The forthcoming national security strategy is a step in the right direction but its aim must be to transform our outdated and compartmentalised national security architecture.It said: "The forthcoming national security strategy is a step in the right direction but its aim must be to transform our outdated and compartmentalised national security architecture.
"Unless we have joined-up government of national security, we will be vulnerable through the cracks.""Unless we have joined-up government of national security, we will be vulnerable through the cracks."