As the newly elected Labour government assumes power in the UK after 14 years of Conservative rule, industry leaders are urging urgent action on cybersecurity and digital infrastructure to protect the nation’s economy and public services.
Recent high-profile cyberattacks targeting critical organisations such as the NHS and the Ministry of Defence have exposed serious weaknesses in the country’s digital defences. Security experts are calling for a stronger, more proactive national approach to cybersecurity alongside an accelerated nationwide 5G rollout.
Mark Coates, VP EMEA at Gigamon, stresses the need for immediate focus: “The new government carries with it the election promise of ‘change’. With recent high-profile attacks on the NHS and MoD highlighting critical gaps in national security, the new leaders must play their part in ensuring that cybersecurity is a boardroom priority in all organisations with accountable outcomes, given that the UK is at high risk of a ‘catastrophic ransomware attack’.”
Coates warns that current cybersecurity efforts have not kept pace with growing threats. He highlights the persistence of aging legacy systems—43 of which were rated critical risk this year—and calls for stronger legislation to hold organisations accountable for improving the UK’s cyber readiness. He also advocates adopting secure-by-design principles, investing in proactive defence strategies, and improving visibility into organisational data flows, including encrypted traffic.
Al Lakhani, CEO of IDEE, says cybersecurity was noticeably absent from the election debate and cautions that ignoring it would be a grave mistake. “For all the election noise, cyber security was absent. In a way this is understandable; there are many other social and economic issues to focus on when trying to woo voters. But as the dust settles on this election and a new party comes to power, continuing to overlook cyber security would be a grave mistake,” he warns.
Lakhani points to a string of recent incidents—the electoral commission, multiple NHS hospitals and numerous private businesses have all been breached—and asks how many more attacks will be tolerated before decisive action is taken. He urges the new government to create a comprehensive national cybersecurity strategy comparable to the EU’s NIS2 directive, ensuring higher baseline protections and clearer responsibilities for critical organisations.
Both Coates and Lakhani call for modernising security practices across the public and private sectors. Lakhani specifically advocates a move away from outdated approaches and first-generation multi-factor authentication toward advanced solutions such as modern, same-device MFA 2.0 to better defend against phishing and password-based attacks.
Alongside cybersecurity, the telecoms industry is pressing the new government to prioritise the expansion of 5G infrastructure. Faster, more reliable connectivity is seen as essential for economic growth, innovation and national competitiveness.
Robert Finnegan, CEO of Three UK, welcomes the administration’s recognition of 5G as a key economic driver but warns that the UK is currently falling behind the level of connectivity it needs. He expresses willingness to work with the government to close the gap and highlights the potential impact of industry consolidation and investment.
“The merger of Vodafone and Three would enable investment of £11bn in a dedicated 5G network that could deliver significant benefits to businesses and individuals across the country,” Finnegan says, noting that strategic industry partnerships and regulatory clarity will be important to unlock large-scale network investment.
As the Labour government settles in, it faces a dual challenge: strengthen the nation’s cyber defences and accelerate deployment of modern 5G networks. The coming months will be crucial in determining whether policy changes, regulatory updates and public-private collaboration can meaningfully improve resilience and connectivity nationwide.
(Photo by Marcin Nowak)
See also: Vodafone and Virgin Media O2 extend network sharing
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