The House of Commons, Joint Committee on National Security Strategy, has launched an Inquiry into ‘Defending Democracy’ to understand how threats to the UK’s democracy may evolve and be addressed in the approach to the UK’s next General Election. The primary focus of this inquiry will be the work of the National Security Council’s Defending Democracy Taskforce. The Taskforce, launched in 2022 by the National Security Council, aims to ‘protect the democratic integrity of the UK’ by the government’s commitments set out both in the Integrated Review 2021, and the Integrated Review Refresh 2023. This latter Review recognised that democratic resilience is an area of vulnerability for the UK.
The Inquiry is accepting evidence until 18th March 2024, on topics including actual and perceived threats to UK democracy, the aims, objectives and functions of the Defending Democracy Taskforce, election security, emerging technologies, disinformation, legislative framework, foreign influence, and support for democracy abroad.