Welcome to the 67th Cable, our weekly roundup of British foreign and defence policy.
The Department for Business and Trade announced on Friday 31st October a new policy to cut industrial energy costs for the United Kingdom’s (UK) ‘most energy-intensive businesses’. British industries, including steel, chemicals, cement, glass and paper, will benefit from a 90% discount on their electricity network charges from April 2026, providing savings for these companies of up to £420 million per year. These industries are also set to receive support as part of the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme in 2027. Such measures aim to bring industrial energy prices in Britain ‘in line’ with other major European economies to keep the UK industrial sector competitive on the global stage.
His Majesty’s (HM) Government’s support for industry is welcome, as sustaining Britain’s heavy industry is critical for national security, which forms the foundation of national power. From ensuring sovereign capabilities in a more competitive world to securing the supply chains and skilled workforce required for Britain’s defence sector, it all starts with industrial capacity.
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During her visit to the Arabian Peninsula last week, Rachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced trade and investment deals with Saudi Arabia worth £6.4 billion. These new deals build on the £4.1 billion secured at last month’s UK-Saudi Great Futures Summit in London, bringing the total value of trade and investment agreements signed in recent months to over £10 billion between the two countries.
Britain and Germany have signed a contract for new bridging equipment. The deal will see the UK purchase 36 large amphibious bridging vehicles produced by General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS) in Germany, which help to transport troops and heavy equipment. Germany, in turn, will buy a number of General Support Bridge (GSB) systems made in Britain.
During his visit to Doha, John Healey, Secretary of State for Defence, signed a new defence agreement with Qatar. The agreement sees the UK and Qatar commit to increasing interoperability between their armed forces. While in Qatar, the Defence Secretary also joined Sheikh Saoud Bin Ali Al-Thani, his Qatari counterpart, in co-chairing a discussion covering the latest security developments in the region.
Airbus confirmed last week that the company will open a new facility in the UK specifically targeted at supporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the space sector. The so-called ‘Airbus Launchpad’ is expected to open early next year in Stevenage, and aims to stimulate innovation and the creation of new technologies in the space sector. The facility will be supported by the UK Space Agency’s Space Clusters Infrastructure Fund, with £50 million set aside for space research and infrastructure projects.
For additional defence news stories, follow this link to the DSEI Gateway news portal.
The Royal Navy confirmed the successful test of an experimental quantum optical atomic clock called ‘Tiqker’, marking the first time such a device has been operated underwater. The trial saw Tiqker placed on XV Excalibur, an uncrewed testbed submarine, which performed a number of dives and other manoeuvres. Quantum technologies will provide improved Precision, Navigation and Timing (PNT) for submarines, which cannot always rely on Global Positioning Systems (GPS) for navigation, therefore allowing submarines to remain submerged for longer periods of time. Technology such as Tiqker also provides a precise onboard reference for other critical submarine systems such as sonar, fire control, and secure communications, improving mission performance.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero published its Carbon Budget and Growth Delivery Plan on 29th October, which sets out how the UK will continue to reduce emissions in line with the 2008 Climate Change Act. This includes: working with private companies to invest more in clean energy, to deliver 400,000 extra jobs in the green energy sector by 2030; and upgrading 5 million homes through the Warm Homes Plan.
How competitors frame Britain
TASS reported on comments made by Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council, where he stated that ‘the more money the Western world spends supporting [Ukraine], the worse the outcome will be for the regime of the bloodthirsty Kiev clowns and, eventually, the more land will return to Russia’. Britain and its allies have only one goal from their support of Ukraine, ensuring that the country remains a sovereign and free nation on the world stage.
Russia Today released propaganda last week, calling into question whether the UK and France should remain nuclear powers due to their ‘unstable governments’ and ‘long declines’. The piece goes on to say that the world ‘should be discussing how to limit their [Britain and France’s] capacity for geopolitical mischief’. An interesting take for a country which regularly engages in nuclear sabre rattling and is currently waging a war of conquest against its neighbour.
Britain enhances its relationship with Vietnam
For observers of last week’s meeting between Sir Keir Starmer, Prime Minister, and Tô Lâm, General Secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party, the headline was surprising: the UK and Vietnam have upgraded their relationship to a ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’. This would seem to be a significant step in the language of relationships between the two countries, implying not only a broad scope relationship relating to trade and investment, but also to regional security. The line in No. 10’s press release provided more grist for the mill: ‘they reiterated their commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific’. For those unfamiliar with such terms, there is a very subtle hint that the two nations align with each other, as well as allies and partners such as Japan, Australia, and the United States (US) against the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
Such language was possibly one of the strongest top-level drivers of the visit. The second was economic growth – a major part of HM Government’s agenda. While Britain and Vietnam are already linked through a bilateral free trade agreement and the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the full trade gains have not been fully realised – some allege due to the opaque rules that govern Vietnam’s economy. But here again, both countries sought deliverables in finance, investment, trade, technology and green energy – with the two committing to a UK-Vietnam annual dialogue mechanism between business leaders and senior government officials.
There was also a politically charged commitment to come down on illegal migration of Vietnamese nationals to Britain, fast-tracking the removal of non-legal migrants, and cracking down on human trafficking gangs that charge migrants between £15,000 and £35,000 to make the trip to the UK – Vietnamese migrants coming over from France on small boats made up the fourth largest group in 2024. The exchange of biometric data and cooperation between security forces is perhaps a sensitive one, given the continued nature of Vietnam as a one-party (communist) state, but such is the domestic pressure in Britain on this issue that Sir Keir has been keen for some symbolic gains in this area.
For some, the question will be where does the relationship go next? There are real questions about the sustainability of the UK’s defence posture in the Indo-Pacific. However, Vietnam does present a close regional partner (alongside the Philippines) inside the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), providing a glimpse of where Britain will likely drive the relationship.
For Vietnam, there is much to be gained by having powerful friends in Europe, and with ties to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). However, it is likely to continue prioritising advanced technology trade as it seeks to move up the value chain. Time will tell whether this flourishing bilateral relationship continues, or runs into speedbumps.
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