PM announces national risk register

The government is to publish a national risk register detailing the threats facing Britain, the prime minister has said.

In a Commons statement to accompany the publication of the first National Security Strategy, Gordon Brown said the register would be issued later this year.

It will list the risks faced by the country, including possible numbers of fatalities in a range of disasters.

The strategy said the highest threat currently faced is an influenza-type pandemic which could kill up to 750,000 people, followed by coastal flooding which could lead to the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people.

Brown also described plans for "a new form of civil protection", along the lines of civil defence forces in the Second World War.

Volunteers would join their local civil protection network, run by town halls.

Military

He also pledged extra support for the military and security services in the face of dangers which have "changed beyond all recognition".

A cross-departmental support package for the military will involve bonus payments of up to £15,000 for long-serving personnel, he said, and a £20m fund to help servicemen buy homes.

A new "national security forum" will also be established, with up to 30 experts from academia and other areas advising the National Security Committee - composed of ministers, intelligence agencies, police and defence chiefs.

Brown also proposed a "standby international civilian capability" which could be sent to world trouble spots and failed states in the same way as the military is deployed.

It would combine functions such as humanitarian peace-keeping and reconstruction, he said, pledging that Britain would contribute 1,000 members, including police, emergency services and judges.

Brown told MPs that four regional counter-terrorism units and four regional intelligence units would be set up to improve police capacity across the country.

Scrutiny

And the Intelligence and Scrutiny Committee will be subject to enhanced scrutiny and greater transparency, he said.

The strategy, he went on, would help Britain "always be vigilant, never leaving ourselves vulnerable" in an "unstable and increasingly uncertain international security landscape".

The strategy was initially intended to be published last year, but its completion was said to have been delayed by the complexity of the issues involved.

Conservative leader David Cameron, responding to the statement, said the announcement looked "rather more like a list than a strategy".