Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Democratic Processes: Foreign Interference

Thursday 6 March 2025 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • The Minister stated that protecting democratic processes from foreign interference is an absolute priority.
  • The defending democracy taskforce has been established to safeguard the UK's democratic integrity.
  • The Government aims to protect election infrastructure from misinformation, voter suppression, and cyber-attacks.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Wera Hobhouse Lib Dem Bath
Democracy & Elections
Context

The question arises in the context of ongoing concerns over foreign interference and cyber-attacks on election infrastructure. The defender democracy taskforce has been established to address these issues.

Question

What steps he is taking to ensure the security of democratic processes from foreign interference?

Answer from The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Pat McFadden)

It is an absolute priority to protect the UK’s democratic processes from foreign interference. The defending democracy taskforce has been set up to protect the democratic integrity of the UK from such interference. The Prime Minister recently reconfirmed its mandate, and the Security Minister chaired a meeting of the taskforce last week.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The answer did not provide specific steps or actions taken by the government other than mentioning the existence of the defending democracy taskforce.

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Q2 Wera Hobhouse Lib Dem Bath
Democracy & Elections
Context

The question builds on the previous discussion about foreign interference in democratic processes. The questioner specifically addresses concerns over election infrastructure security.

Question

As well as addressing foreign interference, will the Minister update us on how we can protect our own election infrastructure to safeguard against misinformation, voter suppression and cyber-attacks?

Answer from The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Pat McFadden)

We had some earlier exchanges about cyber-attacks. It is important that our democratic processes uphold their integrity and that people who take part in our elections exercise their choice freely and without external interference in the process. The Government are dedicated to ensuring that that happens.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The answer did not provide specific updates or steps related to securing election infrastructure; instead, it restated a commitment to upholding democratic integrity.

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