Former head of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) Sir Richard Dearlove has said the country’s energy strategy turns a blind eye to issues in Britain’s critical infrastructure, which has been left dangerously exposed to risks tied to foreign manufacturing, component imports, and the integrity of key facilities.
Speaking Wednesday at the annual lecture of the Global Warming Policy Foundation in London, Dearlove stressed that energy policy should be treated not just as an economic matter but as a national security one.
The UK as a nation has come to the edge of a cliff, and the adversaries he spoke about are ready to help the country go over it, he warned.
What worries him most, he said, is that China is increasingly leaning on the country’s economic, technological, and infrastructure dependence to shore up its geopolitical influence. Richard zeroed in on the vulnerability of undersea cables, pipelines, and power lines, as well as the British energy system’s critical reliance on foreign suppliers of key grid equipment.
“We have almost nothing left to defend in industry, and we can’t rebuild sectors that don’t exist, sitting in foreign jurisdictions beyond our reach,” he said.
The remarks came amid Britain’s continued growing reliance on electricity imports. According to official government data, in 2025 the country imported about 13% of its total electricity supply, which bears out the warnings.