Question
I welcome the Minister’s statement. He will know very well that the “Protecting What Matters” strategy, which was announced to the House earlier this year, had some excellent proposals to strengthen community resilience. Will he update the House about progress on that strategy, and say exactly which proposals we have made progress on to date?
Answer
I am grateful to my hon. Friend, and I think he raises an important point. I am limited in the time I have to respond, but I can update him that there has been positive progress on that area of work. It sits adjacent to the discussion we are having, but he is right to raise it. At points of everyday emergency, or where particular communities are subject to emergency circumstances, there are those who may seek to use it as an opportunity to sow misinformation and disinformation. The Government are of course extremely mindful of that, which is one of the reasons why the Prime Minister recently announced the creation of the national centre for information defence.
Verdict: RED (5/100)
The reply does not answer either part of the question. It mentions 'positive progress' in an adjacent area, but it never identifies the 'Protecting What Matters' strategy or reports on any of its proposals. Its only concrete content concerns misinformation and a national centre for information defence, which is a different subject. A member of the public would learn nothing about the strategy's progress and would likely need to ask again.
How we got there
| Question item | Coverage | Specificity | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| What progress has been made on the 'Protecting What Matters' strategy? | Not Addressed | Generic MISREADS QUESTION | The reply says there has been 'positive progress on that area of work' but then states that this sits adjacent to the discussion, so it never identifies or reports on the 'Protecting What Matters' strategy. The only concrete content concerns misinformation and the national centre for information defence, which is a different subject. |
| Which specific proposals in the 'Protecting What Matters' strategy have seen progress to date? | Not Addressed | Generic MISREADS QUESTION | No specific proposal from the 'Protecting What Matters' strategy is named or described as having progressed. The reply's concrete example, the national centre for information defence, is tied to misinformation during emergencies rather than to that strategy's proposals. |