School of Politics and International Relations' Research Centres Submit Written Evidence To The Defending Democracy Inquiry

The Centre for Research into Ideas and the Study of Political Ideologies (CRISPI) has collaborated with the Centre for the Study of Subversion, Unconventional Interventions and Terrorism (SUIT) to submit written evidence to a parliamentary inquiry on defending democracy, run by the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy.

Rory Cormac, Hugo Drochon and Dan Lomas have argued that Foreign actors' attempts to destabilise UK democratic institutions is clear. Publicly available evidence suggests we can expect this to continue, including a specific focus on forthcoming elections. The UK has taken steps to treat the threat more seriously, but more can be done. First, excessive secrecy and a lack of transparency risks backfiring by unwittingly feeding politicisation and conspiracy theories. Second, foreign interference exploits existing internal weaknesses and divisions; an internal/external divide is artificial, and the UK should work to reduce internal polarisation to reduce vulnerability. And thirdly, legalisation will not solve the problem; it can only form one aspect of a wider holistic response.

Read the evidence submission in full.