The UK’s new security review was propounded to be a comprehensive and helpful analysis but it has turned out to be an utter waste of resources in the midst of a global crisis.
‘Global Britain in a Competitive Age: The Integrated Review of Defence, Development and Foreign Policy’ no doubt consumed a huge amount of government time during the worst human security crisis the country has faced for 75 years. This time would have been far better spent concentrating on tackling the pandemic and preparing for its fallout, both for the country and the world. COVID-19 has already killed twice as many people in the UK as the six years of the Second World War, as well as 2.7 million people worldwide, yet in the whole 111 pages of the review published this week, just a page and a half has been devoted to future health resilience.
There is some coverage of biosecurity and the need to learn lessons, but it is minimal in the context of the whole document, even though the UK is the worst major country in the world for per capita COVID-19 deaths, presently exceeding both the United States and Brazil.
