Britain’s ‘moment of reckoning’: UK must win technology race, GCHQ spy chief warns 

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Britain’s ‘moment of reckoning’: UK must win technology race with foreign adversaries or risk falling prey to China, GCHQ spy chief warns

  • UK faces ‘moment of reckoning’ in race for tech supremacy, spy chief says
  • Jeremy Fleming will call for Britain to evolve like an animal in a changing habitat
  • He will warn digital dominance of hostile states like China threatens our future

By Rebecca Camber Crime And Security Editor For The Daily Mail

Published: | Updated:

Britain faces a ‘moment of reckoning’ in the race for technological supremacy and must adapt or risk falling prey to China, a spy chief will warn today.

Jeremy Fleming, the director of GCHQ, will call for the country to evolve like an animal in a changing habitat as the ‘global digital environment’ comes under threat from foreign adversaries like China and Russia.

In a major speech today, he will warn that the digital dominance of hostile states like China threatens our future prosperity and security.

And, if left unchecked, this could threaten the design and freedom of the internet and endanger future technologies such as ‘smart cities’.

Jeremy Fleming, Director of GCHQ, gives a keynote speech at the National Cyber Security Centre, 2019 

Delivering the annual Vincent Briscoe Lecture at Imperial College London, Mr Fleming will say: ‘The UK really is a global cyber power – a big animal in the digital world. But historic strength does not mean we can assume we will be in the future.

‘New technology is enabling life online. Cyber security is an increasingly strategic issue that needs a whole nation approach. The rules are changing in ways not always controlled by Government.’

He will add: ‘Without action, it is increasingly clear that the key technologies on which we will rely for our future prosperity and security won’t be shaped and controlled by the West.

Jeremy Fleming, the director of GCHQ, will call for the country to evolve like an animal in a changing habitat as the 'global digital environment' comes under threat from foreign adversaries like China and Russia (pictured: GCHQ centre)

Jeremy Fleming, the director of GCHQ, will call for the country to evolve like an animal in a changing habitat as the ‘global digital environment’ comes under threat from foreign adversaries like China and Russia (pictured: GCHQ centre)

‘We are now facing a moment of reckoning. In the natural world, during a period of rapid change, the only option is to adapt. And it’s the same for us.’

Mr Fleming will call for the development and protection of future technologies to be a priority for Britain, warning that the pandemic has ‘enabled our adversaries’ in new ways.

And we will have to work with ‘like-minded nations’ to find solutions to technological issues, the spy chief will add.