The UK Defence Forum exists to enable politicians, industrialists, members of the armed forces, academics and others with an interest in defence and security issues to exchange information and views on the future needs of Britain's defence and security.
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking office in government. Politicians propose, support and create laws or policies that govern the land and, by extension, its people. Broadly speaking, a "politician" can be anyone who seeks to achieve political power in any bureaucratic institution.
National security refers to the security of a nation state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, and is regarded as a duty of government.
Security is freedom from, or resilience against, potential harm caused by others. Beneficiaries of security may be of persons and social groups, objects and institutions, ecosystems or any other entity or phenomenon vulnerable to unwanted change by its environment.
Put at its simplest, the Forum looks at where future conflicts may occur or threats evolve, why, what the UK should do about it, and how the nation and its defence industrial base would be affected. The Forum represents an opportunity for politicians, including those in Government and from Opposition parties, to meet people from relevant diverse backgrounds and to exchange information with them and others interested in defence and security.
The UK Defence Forum possesses no corporate view of its own, meetings are strictly conducted under the Chatham House Rule, and there is a strong "no lobbying" policy. Papers are delivered by academics, military, diplomats, politicians, civil servants or industrialists. From the perspective of politicians, the unique value of the UK Defence Forum is that they are able to obtain insights into matters of concern to them and to question a wide range of experts privately. The UK Defence Forum was urged by former Prime Minister Blair to "think the unthinkable". Some papers following moderating are placed on the UK Defence Forum website and made available to the public domain. Additional papers are published in writing and on the website (with a policy of general public domain release some three years after initial publication).
The Chatham House Rule is a system for holding debates and discussion panels on controversial issues, named after the headquarters of the UK Royal Institute of International Affairs, based in Chatham House, London, where the rule originated in June 1927.
The website also hosts the Tim Garden Archives and EURODEFENSE UK archives. The U K Defence Forum conducts an annual Tim Garden Essay Competition. The UKDF produces Defence Viewpoints, with articles, opinion pieces and news with a national and international perspective which is updated daily, and which has a comment and contribution facility. Defence Viewpoints also contains links to blogs in USA, Russia, China, India and others. It contains a feed from Twitter Defence Red Box
The UK Defence Forum meets on a regular basis in London: meetings are attended by invited politicians, academics, senior industrialists, and others. The Forum is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organisation, based in Newcastle upon Tyne.
London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south-east of England, at the head of its 50-mile (80 km) estuary leading to the North Sea, London has been a major settlement for two millennia. Londinium was founded by the Romans. The City of London, London's ancient core − an area of just 1.12 square miles (2.9 km2) and colloquially known as the Square Mile − retains boundaries that follow closely its medieval limits. The City of Westminster is also an Inner London borough holding city status. Greater London is governed by the Mayor of London and the London Assembly.
Newcastle upon Tyne, commonly known as Newcastle, is a city in Tyne and Wear, North East England, 103 miles (166 km) south of Edinburgh and 277 miles (446 km) north of London on the northern bank of the River Tyne, 8.5 mi (13.7 km) from the North Sea. Newcastle is the most populous city in the North East, and forms the core of the Tyneside conurbation, the eighth most populous urban area in the United Kingdom. Newcastle is a member of the UK Core Cities Group and is a member of the Eurocities network of European cities.
David George Clark, Baron Clark of Windermere PC DL is a British Labour politician, former cabinet minister and author.
Walter Menzies Campbell, Baron Campbell of Pittenweem,, often known as Ming Campbell, is a British Liberal Democrat politician, advocate and former athlete. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Fife from 1987 to 2015 and was the Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2 March 2006 until 15 October 2007.
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established on 4 June 1917 by King George V and comprises five classes across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two of which make the recipient either a knight if male or dame if female. There is also the related British Empire Medal, whose recipients are affiliated with, but not members of, the order.
External links
UK Defence Forum Home of the U K Defence Forum featuring papers and meetings programme
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