The Government is putting the UK’s national security at risk, a former MI6 chief has said, accusing Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, of being “clueless” over Benjamin Netanyahu’s arrest warrant.
Sir Richard Dearlove, who was head of Britain’s foreign intelligence agency between 1999 and 2004, said the Government showed no urgency in the face of international crises.
He told GB News: “I’m deeply worried about aspects of this new Government, particularly when it comes to national security – and these are ultimately issues of national security.”
Asked to expand on his concerns, Sir Richard said he was most worried about the defence budget, saying: “We’re in a state of international crisis. We have a defence review, but there’s no urgency at all on the Government’s part.
“We’ve just seen them cut various military equipment to make a saving. OK, they’re saying it’s outdated, but you don’t do that when you are threatened by probably the worst security situation in Europe.”
The comments mark Sir Richard’s strongest criticism of the Government to date. The last time he made such an intervention was in 2019 when he said Jeremy Corbyn, the then Labour leader, was a danger to national security and was unfit to lead the country.
He accused Ms Cooper of not “having a clue” on whether she would rule out arresting Mr Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant.
“She certainly should. But having heard her interviewed earlier in the week, she clearly hadn’t a clue what to say. She ducked and weaved,” Sir Richard said.
“She just ‘blahed’ her way through the interview without really saying anything. I mean, it shows that they’re in a very tough position, but they need to take a clear stand on this.”
Earlier this week, the ICC, based in The Hague, issued an arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister over the Israel-Hamas conflict. Britain, along with the other 123 members of the ICC, is responsible for enforcing arrest warrants it issues.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said the Government respected the court.
Last week, John Healey, the Defence Secretary, announced that the British Armed Forces will be hit by £500 million worth of cuts, hours after British Storm Shadow missiles were fired into Russia for the first time.
The cuts, to six major defence programmes, came despite Vladimir Putin warning that the conflict in Ukraine could escalate to nuclear war.
Sir Richard said: “This [defence] is as important, perhaps more important, than the National Health Service. It should be absolutely at the top of the Government’s priority list and it isn’t.”
The defence budget was awarded a £3 billion boost in Rachel Reeves’s Budget, but military chiefs dismissed that as not being enough to “touch the sides” of what the Armed Forces needed.
But Sir Richard said he did not believe Vladimir Putin would go to war with Nato nations, despite his recent nuclear sabre-rattling.
“Putin’s got a problem,” he said. “He can escalate the war verbally, which he does – to escalate it in terms of conflict is a more complicated issue.
“I don’t think Russia is going to risk, personally, a shooting war with the West. If they can’t cope with the Ukrainian military, if they can’t win in Ukraine, they are not going to take on Nato.”
Asked about the Government’s relationship with the US under the next Trump administration, Sir Richard said: “I’m not sure [Foreign Secretary David] Lammy is going to be best friends with him. There’ll be other people who’ll be interlocutors with Trump.
“JD Vance was pretty rude about Trump in his previous political life, but Lammy has got a lot of baggage. He’s not the ideal person…he’ll be part of the special relationship, but in my guess he won’t be a particularly important part of it.”
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