Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:32 pm on 24 June 2009.
On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. This is really further to your statement, and particularly the first point in it. It was remarkable to read in The Independent today that
"Britain is to appoint its first national cyber security chief to protect the country from terrorist computer hackers and electronic espionage, Gordon Brown will announce tomorrow.
The Prime Minister's move comes amid fears that the computer systems of government and business are vulnerable to online attack from hostile countries and terrorist organisations."
A civil servant is then named:
"Neil Thompson, a senior civil servant, will be charged with protecting the national computer network."
Cyber-security is a very important issue, and the cyber-threat to the United Kingdom is extremely severe. I understand that there are no plans for an oral statement to this House tomorrow, quite apart from the fact that there is no record that there will be any written or oral statements to the House today on the issue. Would it be as well for the Government to prepare an oral statement of some kind for tomorrow?