UKNDA (UK National Defence Association)

To campaign for sufficient, appropriate and fully funded Armed Forces that the United Kingdom needs to defend effectively this Country, its people, their vital interests and security at home and throughout the world.
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HOMELAND SECURITY

NOTES FROM HOMELAND AND BORDER SECURITY 08

Summary – Busy reader West, Neville- Jones, Chakrabati & Hannigan.
Protecting the UK - Countering International Terrorism
Admiral Lord West (Minister for Security & Counter-Terrorism)

Admiral Lord West, Parliamentary under-secretary of State for Security and Counter Terrorism
Govt's main concern is to protect its citizens Maintaining UK as a business, financial, cultural and academic hub. Lord West reminded us that the threat was high he outlined ongoing work to secure borders.

National Security Strategy seeks to clarify ways of addressing the threats in an holistic way . The number of court cases are a testament to success in foiling attacks. National Risk Register will be delivered. More public awareness needed coupled with better working between local & central Government. The content of the Ministers address was long on known activity and praise for past performance and he was invited by the chairman to curtail his remarks as he overran his time. The Framework of his address was:-
Counter terrorism strategy:
  • eBorders - UK Borders Act: creating a unified border security service with EU & others but not in time for Olympics.
  • OSCT: reorganisation to coordinate counter terrorism strategy
  • PET – Preventing Extremism Together: building cohesion, preventing radicalisation
  • The Prevent Strategy 2008 - helping local authorities, schools, community groups and police tackle violent extremism
  • Cutting funds to terrorist organisations: strengthening anti money-laundering strategies

Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur, Central Operations & Olympic Games Security Coordinator, Metropolitan Police
 Securing the 2012 Olympic Games

Ghaffur stressed the National nature of the Games and the need for community involvement as well as a clear chain of command. He was clearly concerned with funding, procurement & accountability issues. He also seems to understand the need for synthetic environments to understand and plan for responses. The framework of his remarks was:-
  • London, Olympic City from 2008: the scale, scope and nature of the security challenge
  • Learning from Athens and Beijing: making security measures and resilience integral to planning strategy from the outset
  • Reassuring athletes, officials and spectators of their security by deploying latest technologies to deter and detect criminals
CSC & the UK Border Agency: Protecting our Borders - Experiences from the Frontline
Guy Hains, President & C.E.O. European Group, CSC & Mark Sedwill  Director,
  • The challenges of delivering a biometrics visa application service for the UK
  • The process provided to facilitate this service
  • The implication for prompting travel to the UK
  • How lessons from the visa application process can benefit the wider Government security agenda
CSC report on progress on the UK visas programme. 
Rewriting the UK’s National Security Policy Framework
Baroness Pauline Neville-Jones, Shadow Security Minister and National Security Advisor to David Cameron, Leader of the Opposition
  • An interdependent global economy requires a UK national security policy
  • Resourcing a dedicated border security force
  • Why does Britain need a homeland command?
  • Security through strong international alliances

Tories aren't going to tear up all the old Labour policies - some are working. But they will scrap the ID Card scheme because it's a waste of money and won't help fight terrorism.

We need to defend our values as well as our borders. Tories believe in "sustainable security" - protecting freedom while maintaining public safety.

We need a more integrated society, with national unity around core values.

Individuals must trust each other rather than relying solely on the State.

Tories will put the National Security Council (cross-departmental - MOD and Home Office) into the Cabinet Office so that it can pull in all the relevant ministries including Energy and Transport. It's so important it should be under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister.

Its role will not just be to advise but to formulate strategy and monitor its implementation.

Military should be involved in border security and protection of vital infrastructure. Armed forces are over-stretched but we need to ensure that they are large enough for homeland defence as well as overseas operations.

Tories will set up a tri-service Homeland Command aka HLS PJHQ and bring the armed forces back into mainstream national security. New version of ‘An unquiet world’ spelling these ideas out will be published in Autumn 08. Improved Procurement in Home Office and an NDIC equivalent for National Security.
theThreat.net - Securing the Nation in a Networked World
Dr Tom Black, C.E.O., Detica
  • How are terrorists and organised criminals changing the way they exploit global technology networks?
  • What challenges do we face in dealing with their online activity?
  • What are the implications for national security and personal safety?
  • How should we develop a response, which is both effective and proportionate?

Cyber threat and ways that it can be tackled.

Special keynote address: Working Together, Justice for All
Shami Chakrabarti, Director, Liberty

"War on terror" is bad rhetoric and bad practice. Al-Qaeda should be treated as criminals like the IRA used to be, and now allowed to think of themselves as soldiers. War-on-terror makes is seem like a war between nations, whereas Al-Qaeda are evil terrorist revolutionaries. Al-Qaeda-inspired terrorism is a serious long-term threat but we should not willingly give up our liberties as if this was a conventional war.

The threat must be addressed at ideological, operational and social levels. The ideological (our belief in freedom and democracy) must inform the operational response too. We must not use methods that make us as bad as Al-Qaeda.

Freedom, dignity, security and protection are all interlinked. Right to a fair trial is an important British principle dating from Magna Carta, so should be upheld. 42-day detention is unnecessary and will only increase hostility of some Muslims towards us.

But shouldn't be frightened to be tough. The people who drew up the Charter of Human Rights after WW2 (incl. Churchill) were not pacifists. They know, and we know, that there is no absolute right to life in all circumstances. It is perfectly permissible - and right - for the State to take life (i.e. to shoot and kill terrorists) in order to save lives.
 
All rights are qualified, not absolute.
Post 2005 challenges for the public - private sector co-operation towards 2012
Superintendent Malcolm Baker, Anti Terrorist Branch, Metropolitan Police
  • Time is the common enemy and we all need to ‘speed up’.
  • Challenges of public-private sector security
  • Common goals & framework for future co-operation
  • The need for common understanding of threats & risks
  • Language and terminology
  • Building security partnerships
  • Service delivery against skills/roles & responsibilities
  • ‘Plans are nothing, planning is everything. Private security will assist police especially in routine tasks. This will be a ‘legacy’.
Border Control Management: e-borders programme
Tom Dowdall, Director of European Operations, UK Border Agency, Border Force Sitrep of progress.
  • From pilot project to implementation phase: key milestones from 2008 until 2014
  • Extending some border controls overseas to enhance multi-agency threat and risk assessment (MATRA)
  • Role of biometrics and other technologies in border management. 
IPS and identity management: securing your identity against fraud
James Hall, CEO, Identity and Passport Service

He made’ the case for ID cards. Useful as core National Infrastructure, but has concerns about integrity of information held.
  • Identity Management: how will we protect your ID data?
  • National Identity Register: how will it work?
  • The next steps: recording biometrics data from all non EEA foreign nationals by 2008
  • How will biometrics data be stored? Who will have access to it?
The challenge of protecting the UK’s transport network

Nikki Tompkinson, Director, TRANSEC (Transport Security Directorate), Department for Transport
  • Technology is only as good as the humans that man it.
  • Information exploitation is the key to the future of transport security
  • Protective security: transport network critical to UK’s strong global market position
  • Using technology to facilitate modal and cross modal security programmes
  • Airport security: beyond the Wheeler report
  • Security at ports and waterways: deterrence, surveillance and screening
  • Channel Tunnel, Stratford International, national rail and London Underground security measures
  • Tracking and detection of radioactive material: programme Cyclamen.
Closing keynote: Building capability and resilience across government

Robert Hannigan, Head of Security, Intelligence and Resilience, Cabinet Office

This was an impressive review of past work. Hannigan addressed the issues of Citizens expectations and world interdependence. He listed 11 real threats and suggested that they might be tackled through combined Economic, Technological and Demographic means and that there needed to be balance. With such clarity and logic coming from the Prime Ministers’ adviser one wonders why we are not further advanced towards some solutions.

Lord West’s review: evaluating and increasing capability across government departments. NSS and beyond.
Enhanced security and preparedness through
  • international collaboration
  • intelligence sharing
  • simulating possible emergencies through large-scale exercise

Using technology to enhance security - Dealing with the threat of Cyber Crime - How effective are the current IT security solutions?

Preventing data breaches with good privacy
 

CS Samuel - July 2008

National Security & Resilience – How can the National Defence Forces contribute? 

National Security & Resilience (NSR)    NSR is the term used in the UK to describe what the US calls Homeland Security. The term covers the duty of the Government aim ‘to Maintain Normality in the UK’ in the face of Threat (Counter Terrorism) & Hazard (Bird flu, Nuclear poisoning, flooding, rail crashes).

 
The UK Response is in 2 parts:

 

 Integrated Emergency Management and

 

 National COuNter TErrorism STrategy – CONTEST.

 

Legal Framework. This ‘Duty’ is legally regulated by the Civil Contingencies Act (CCA) 2004 – Risk, Resilience, and the Law in the UK.

 

Who are the ‘Players’ in NSR?   CCA 2004 is owned by the Civil Contingencies Secretariat in the Cabinet Office. The CCA lists organizations that will become involved in various capacities with responsibilities. These are  

 

  • Some 15 core Responders such as Emergency Services - Police, Fire, Ambulance; Local authorities; Health bodies and Government Agencies.

 

  • Some15 Co-operating Responders such as Utilities; Transport; Health Bodies – Health & Safety Executive (HSE).

 

  • There are then many Voluntary bodies who become involved such as Salvation Army, RSPCA, First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY)

 

  • Finally there are Public & Private Companies who become involved in incidents.

 

The Armed Forces have a role to play but are only ‘invited’ by the ‘Incident Commander’ who is called Gold Commander. For civil responses there is a command hierarchy of Gold, Silver & Bronze, being the on site commander.  There is a Military framework set up regionally under a 1 * to co-ordinate the task.  At present the number of Service personnel that might be available is restricted by the wars being fought.

 

National Security & Resilience Challenges With so many possible National Security contributors involved, without counting the Lead & Other Government Departments, there is a real need for clear communications, interoperability in systems and equipment, exercised multi Agency working, practice of Command & Control, training and co-ordination. Just, you may say, what the MOD does with its Joint and single Service culture. Indeed the MOD task of managing the stovepipes of Army, Royal Navy, RAF and Civil Servants might be easier than this?

 

Incident Tempo The ‘tempo’ of incidents is increasing in variety. Recent incidents involving different players include :- Nuclear poisoning, Kendal Rise Tornado, Fireworks Factory explosion, West Coast train derailment, Kidnap plot of Soldier, Norfolk, Surrey & Wales Foot & Mouth, Blue tongue & Bird flu, London Teenage murders, Suffolk Murders, Carlisle, Yorkshire, Gloucester, Oxford, Midland Floods & East Coast Surge. Other large incidents that are memorable are 7/7, 21/7, Bunsfield Fire – biggest in Europe since WW2.

 

Current NSR Concerns  Current NSR concerns are along the lines of - Where & What is the next incident? Can my organisation’s capability cope with the ‘Active’ surge and maintain normal service? What are the Security plans and resources for the London Olympics 2012 and what have I got to do with what funding? What is the impact of Global Warming having on National Security & Resilience plans & resources?

 

With the current increase of incidents requiring protection of the population is there an increased or better defined role for the Armed Forces in assisting the ‘civil’ responders?

 

What has this ( NSR) to do with the UKNDA campaign for sufficient, appropriate and fully funded Armed Forces?

 

  • The Armed Services are increasingly finding themselves working with the Civil Contingency Responders. In Basra there were Police working with the Services. The doctrine for the operation was formulated at Shrivenham. In Afghanistan the task there demands close cooperation with the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) & Department for International Development (DfID) diplomats, administrators and NGOs. Indeed the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) called for a civilian presence manned by people who could take an active part and not be constrained by the Health & Safety ‘duty of care’ demands of their Government Department in UK.

 

  • It seems possible that there will be an increased need for Armed Services to work closer with other Government agencies. Already there is a close relationship in respect of Chemical Biological Radiation Nuclear CBRN, Bomb disposal & Intelligence work.

 

  • There has been a ‘reshuffle’ of tasks allocated to Government Departments. The National Security Committee headed by the Prime Minister meets monthly. A Security minister (Lord West) has been appointed in the Home Office.

 

  • In any event the need to be interoperable with other ‘Responders’ is clearly a ‘Value for Money’ requirement of the Taxpayer. In this there are many hurdles, not least the differing definitions of the terms ‘Strategic, Tactical & Operational’ operations for a start.

 

  • MOD has adopted a ‘Joint’ ethos for Military operations that is very relevant in most Multi Agency incidents. There may also be lessons to be learnt by both sides about procurement, support and training.

 

  • Is National Security & Resilience another area that the public are neither being warned of the shortcomings nor educated as to possible solutions? Could major neglect in this area now lead to a situation similar to that being faced by the Armed Forces today, of insufficient manpower and resources that requires the UKNDA?

  • Should our shrinking Armed Forces be integrated into National Security resources so that they may become more relevant, ‘value for money’ and visible to the British Public?

 

  • Some of the Organisational, Concepts & Doctrine work of both Emergency & Armed Services could profitably be exchanged and honed to make both more efficient at collaboration.

Conclusion

 

The Armed Forces’ potential contribution to National Security & Resilience is through preventative action in the various areas of possible threats, be they at Home or Abroad, This contribution includes planning and thinking, preparation to mitigate consequences and the provision of disciplined manpower capable of using Force if necessary. What is interesting is that Disaster relief training, ‘social’ good works such as school painting, is routinely practiced by the Armed Forces abroad in Tsunami & Hurricane situations but not apparently when UK floods are the threat. A Frigate berthed in Hull in 2007 might have made a contribution to the local population and provided a good opportunity for the Public to see what value the taxpayers get from Defence spending.

 

At present, in 2008, the Armed Forces are so stretched in current operations overseas that they have little capacity to fully participate in the training necessary to build the confidence in working with the other responders in the UK. This, over the years, has led to a situation where there has been a reluctance by the ‘Gold Commanders’ to use the Armed Forces in the UK for National Emergencies. The reasons for this are unique to each situation but include cost, confidence in capability & lack of partnership training.

CS Samuel    1 Feb 2008      
 
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AND NOW HERE'S A SHORT ARTICLE ON THE RELATIONSHIP OF HEALTH & HLS

HLS … a new Health Paradigm ?

 

Homeland Security ( HLS ) and Health are often looked upon as totally divergent entities and whilst the later is cherished by the general public ( in the form of the National Health Service [ NHS ] ) , the former is often dismissed as costly , imposing & questionable !

 

In reality , both have a common objective … Wellbeing !

 

Security ( S ) , is defined as :

 

`A Function ( S )  of the Presence and Interaction of ASSET (  A ) ,        PROTECTOR ( P )  & THREAT ( T ) within a given situation ( Si )

And expressed as : S = F ( A P T ) Si . `

 

( Manunta 1999 )

 

… if we then compare this , 3 component , definition with another … that of HEALTH :

 

`A State of Physical , Psychological and Social Wellbeing , and not simply the absence of Disease `

 

( World Health Organisation 1988 )

 

… then , the new paradigm begins to emerge !

 

If we look at the ( Terrorist ) Threat to the United Kingdom , the events of July 07 , 2005 clearly demonstrate the primary impact upon some of our principle assets , those of  People and Critical National Infrastructure , in this case the Capital`s Mass Transit System ( The London Underground ) . The attacks had a profound impact upon the Physical wellbeing of people caught in the wake of the many explosions … the Psychological consequences impacted upon many more through the visual images conveyed via the media . The Social implications were many and ranged from avoidance of mass transit systems , the inconvenience of increased physical security and searches , through to increasing mistrust of sections of British society . It is also important to look at the secondary impact of terrorism upon another part of our Critical National Infrastructure … The NHS . Whilst sections of the NHS , i.e. London Ambulance and Accident & Emergency Departments , clearly rose to the challenges of July 07 other aspects of healthcare ( e.g. routine hospital admissions ) were adversely affected !

 

The appointment of Admiral Lord West of Spithead to the post of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Security & Counter Terrorism introduces a much needed protector , and a well articulated , effectively delivered , counter terrorism strategy is as important to the wellbeing of the United Kingdom as is the NHS !

 

 

Malcolm Cheshire

 
RMN  CPN  Cert . FAETC – L / QARANC ( V ) .

SBCI , Pg . Cert . Security Management ( L`boro ) .

February 2008 .