Former head of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) Sir Richard Dearlove has said the country\u2019s energy strategy turns a blind eye to issues in Britain\u2019s critical infrastructure, which has been left dangerously exposed to risks tied to foreign manufacturing, component imports, and the integrity of key facilities.<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
What worries him most, he said, is that China is increasingly leaning on the country\u2019s 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\u2019s critical reliance on foreign suppliers of key grid equipment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have almost nothing left to defend in industry, and we can\u2019t rebuild sectors that don\u2019t exist, sitting in foreign jurisdictions beyond our reach,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The remarks came amid Britain\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former head of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) Sir Richard Dearlove has said the country\u2019s energy strategy turns a blind eye to issues in Britain\u2019s 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3933,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[5408,5409,5,98,2504,5407,2106,1788,72,2833,5406,5404,588,575,5405,2102],"class_list":["post-3931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-facts","tag-critical-infrastructure","tag-foreign-interference-2","tag-intelligence","tag-mi6","tag-national-security","tag-richard-dearlove","tag-threats","tag-united-kingdom","tag-velikobritanija","tag-inostrannoe-vmeshatelstvo","tag-kriticheskaja-infrastruktura","tag-mi-6-3","tag-nacionalnaja-bezopasnost","tag-razvedka","tag-richard-dirlav","tag-ugrozy"],"yoast_head":"\n