Labour MP Dan Carden has welcomed Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s plan to establish a new National Centre for Information Defence, arguing that Britain needs a more strategic and proactive response to hostile-state disinformation, deepfakes and foreign interference.
Carden, a member of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, said Burnham’s announcement at the United Nations was an important step and reflected recommendations previously made by the Committee.
He said:
His plans to establish a new National Centre for Information Defence – first called for by the Foreign Affairs Committee – is welcome.
Carden added:
We need a strategic approach to disinformation and deepfakes, especially when these are being directed against society and UK national security.
Centre will ‘detect, attribute and disrupt’ hostile attacks
In his UN General Assembly speech, Burnham announced that Britain’s security chiefs would begin work on a National Centre for Information Defence designed to “detect, attribute and disrupt” hostile-state information attacks and protect the UK’s democracy.
The announcement follows a Foreign Affairs Committee report published in March which called for a statutory, public-facing national centre to coordinate Britain’s response to foreign disinformation. The Committee warned that hostile information operations, particularly from Russia, were being used to undermine democratic institutions and deepen political division.
Carden says response must go beyond correcting false claims
Carden said the new body should not simply react after misleading information has already spread.
He said:
It must have a tougher approach than just reactively correcting misinformation; we must proactively defeat and prevent these hostile attacks.
That broadly reflects the Government’s stated intention for the new centre to identify the origin of hostile campaigns and disrupt them, rather than operating solely as a fact-checking body.
Foreign Affairs Committee welcomes change of approach
The Foreign Affairs Committee has formally welcomed the announcement.
Committee chair Dame Emily Thornberry said successive governments had taken a fragmented approach to disinformation and described the new centre as an opportunity to address a serious national-security threat. Conservative committee member Sir John Whittingdale also welcomed the decision, noting that the Committee had recommended such a body earlier this year.
The Committee has said it expects the centre to be accountable to Parliament and intends to scrutinise its development.
Carden similarly said:
This new Centre should face scrutiny by Parliamentarians, including the Foreign Affairs Committee on which I sit. I will follow its development closely.
UK to help allies counter interference
Burnham also used his UN speech to offer British expertise to other countries facing foreign interference.
He pointed to UK support for Moldova in protecting elections against Russian interference and said Britain wanted to help other democracies strengthen their defences as elections approach across Europe.
Carden welcomed that international dimension, arguing that the security of Britain’s allies ultimately strengthens the UK’s own security.
The Prime Minister also discussed hybrid warfare and disinformation with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during talks at the UN this week, with both sides agreeing on the need for closer cooperation against common European security threats.
Wider questions remain over domestic misinformation
The announcement has also prompted calls for ministers to go further.
Science and Technology Committee chair Chi Onwurah welcomed the creation of a single body to counter state-backed disinformation but warned it would not, by itself, address domestically generated misinformation or harmful algorithmic amplification.
That distinction is likely to become important as ministers develop the centre’s remit.
For Carden, the priority is clear: Britain needs a coordinated national capability that can anticipate and disrupt hostile information warfare, while remaining subject to proper parliamentary scrutiny and working closely with allies facing the same threat.
