UK ‘desperately exposed’ to cyber-threats and pandemics, says minister

Science secretary Peter Kyle says national resilience suffered ‘catastrophically’ under Tories

The UK science secretary has warned Britain is “desperately exposed” to cyber-threats and the upheaval of another pandemic, claiming that national resilience suffered “catastrophically” under the previous government.

Deep public spending cuts under the austerity programme diminished the NHS and other local and national services, and hampered pandemic preparedness exercises, Peter Kyle told the Guardian, while too little was done to address rising cybersecurity risks.