Parliament urges UK to reduce defence reliance on US

The UK must work with European partners to invest in its own internal capabilities. Moscow (ANTARA) - A UK parliamentary committee has urged the United Kingdom to develop its own defence capabilities because Europe can no longer rely on US protection in the event of a military conflict. This was stated in the UK Parliamentary Committee’s report on the National Security Strategy, released on Friday. “To prepare for the worst-case scenario, in which Europe can no longer rely on US support in the event of a crisis, the UK Government must work with European partners to invest in its own internal capabilities to offset any such withdrawal,” the report stated. The committee recommended that the UK Government develop strategic partnerships with countries in other regions. The UK must be prepared to move away from its bilateral relationship with the US and become less dependent on that country in terms of nuclear and conventional defence as well as intelligence operations. Furthermore, the report stated that the UK Government lacks a clear division of responsibilities for national security. “Throughout our investigation, we found a lack of clarity regarding which department would be responsible for aspects of national security,” the report stated. Moreover, the report noted that lawmakers observed that cabinet oversight mechanisms may be “not robust enough” to ensure coherent implementation of the national security strategy across the government.