NEW: The security outlook for the UK and its allies is far more dangerous now than at any time in the past 30 years, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the new head of the armed forces has warned in his first speech.
Mentioning the UK’s 4 main rivals by name, the new Chief of the Defence Staff called Russia’s behaviour “a threat to our values and interests” - yet he made no mention of Ukraine despite heightened concern at a threat of another Russian invasion of the country.
Admiral Radakin accused China of “challenging international norms of behaviour: whether freedom of navigation, economic intimidation or wolf-warrior diplomacy”.
And on Iran & North Korea, the UK’s new military chief said Tehran could “soon” join Pyongyang in posing a “nuclear and ballistic missile threat” to the UK and its allies.
The new military chief also touched on reputational impact of US-led pull out from #Afghanistan over in wake of Taliban takeover. “Like it or not, our withdrawal from Afghanistan is grist to the mill for those who subscribe to a narrative around the decline of the West,” he said.
Admiral Radakin also revealed his priorities as head of the military, describing as “woeful” a persistent lack of women in defence – and made a dig at officers who have been convicted of fiddling military expenses to benefit themselves, such as by wrongly claiming for school fees
“This is not about wokefulness. It is about woefulness. The woefulness of too few women… not reflecting the ethnic, religious and cognitive diversity of our nation. And … not following our own values, whether respect for each other or the simple integrity of claiming expenses”

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More from @haynesdeborah

8 Dec
BREAKING: A full Russian invasion of Ukraine would be on a scale “not seen in Europe since World War 2”, the new head of the armed forces has warned.
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin described the Ukraine crisis - with a build of tens of thousands of Russian troops - as “deeply worrying”
The comments were made to a small group of journalists on Tuesday evening after the Chief of the Defence Staff delivered his first speech since taking charge of the UK’s military at the end of last month.
“It is deeply worrying,” Admiral Radakin said, referring to Russian troop movements.
UK & US officials have repeatedly said they do not know what President Putin intends to do in Ukraine, but they believe one option is the potential for an invasion
Read 5 tweets
1 Dec
BREAKING: A passionate message from NATO Chief @jensstoltenberg (who is from Norway so knows first hand what it's like to neighbour Russia) to President Vladimir Putin - you have no right to a "sphere of influence" to control your neighbours
Speaking after a foreign ministers meeting @jensstoltenberg says: "It's only Ukraine & 30 NATO allies that decides when Ukraine is ready to join NATO. Russia has no veto, Russia as no say & Russia has no right to establish a sphere of influence to try to control their neighbours"
The NATO chief says the whole idea of Russia having a sphere of influence "is not acceptable".
@jensstoltenberg says: "They try to re-establish some kind of acceptance that Russia has a right to control what neighbours do or not do. 1/
Read 12 tweets
30 Nov
China has for the first time become the single greatest focus for the UK’s spy agency MI6, with its chief warning the risk "is real" of a miscalculation by Beijing through underestimating western resolve to push back ⬇️

bit.ly/3d4xhWH
Pointing to Taiwan, @ChiefMI6 Richard Moore said a desire by the ruling Chinese Communist Party - backed by an increasingly powerful military - to regain control of the territory by force if necessary was a "serious challenge to global stability and peace".
The 🇬🇧 spymaster also accused China of conducting "large-scale espionage operations against UK + our allies" & he said countries globally should be "clear-eyed" when dealing with Beijing because of potential to fall into a debt trap or to have data on their population exploited
Read 4 tweets
30 Nov
The 🇬🇧F35 that dropped off @HMSQNLZ & into the Mediterranean 2 weeks ago has yet to be retrieved but experts know where it is, National Security Adviser tells @CommonsDefence. Stephen Lovegrove admits protecting jet from spying eyes of adversaries like Russia is "top of our mind"
Here are full quotes:
NSA on #F35: "Clearly the swift recovery of the aircraft is what we would like to do. We are working closely with allies on the mechanics of that. But I can’t go into too much detail for reasons of operational security. We haven’t got the plane up yet."
On Russian spy threat to sunken #F35, NSA says: "The kind of precautions & operations we're undertaking...are designed at least in part to ensure the technology of the F35 remains as confidential as you'd like it to be though security aspects are very much at the top of our mind"
Read 4 tweets
30 Nov
NOW: Richard Moore, @ChiefMI6, is giving his first public speech as Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) at @IISS_org ImageImage
While the identity of the head of MI6 - and very existence of the agency - is no longer secret, Moore says giving speeches is still rare. “This is something I want to change”
Richard Moore describes China, Russia, Iran & international terrorism as still being the “Big Four” threats for the intelligence world. But shaping everything are advances in technology - a “white-hot focus” for #MI6
Read 9 tweets
30 Nov
NOW: Richard Moore, @ChiefMI6, is live on @BBCr4today - first time "C" ("M" in the James Bond movies) has done a live interview
The MI6 chief admits he did do some secret "skulking" while a young spy - though doesn't say he did things like wear fake beards as a disguise
Richard Moore talks about the vital need in 21st century for the UK & allies to keep up with rivals (ie states like China, Russia, Iran) in the development of technologies
Read 14 tweets

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