Heathrow’s fire shows that the UK has a problem with elasticity

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Rula Calaf, FT editor, chooses his favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.

The writer is head of risk management policy at the long -term resilience center

Investigators will undoubtedly need some time to understand the cause of the fire closed by Heathrow Airport on Friday, disrupting more than a thousand flights and affecting about 200,000 passengers. But it does not take long to see how vulnerable the UK is. In this case, an electric substation in the nearby suburbs provided a unique failure for the busiest airport in Europe.

Airports at the Center have energy claims in small cities, while rightly, prioritizing security. Heathrow claims that it is not possible to establish a backup for the production of energy needed to safely carry out its activities. That’s not good enough. It should be determined that the alternative supply is available from the network and can be transferred to flawlessly if necessary. Wider, regulators should require all critical infrastructure providers to regularly assess the weaknesses and stress to test their ability to recover quickly.

As the global look continues to darken, policy makers wake up to a lack of elasticity in the UK – not only in the country’s infrastructure, but also wider in economics and society. From the submarine cables to power networks, the UK is exposed.

The pandemic was supposed to have focused minds, but several lessons appear to have been learned. A Report Last week, the Center for Long-term Elasticity reveals that the UK is in a worse position to respond to biological threats than in Kovid-19. Today, the government has a very small cross -versatile visibility of key information on where we source the pharmaceutical ingredients. It makes the takeover of coordinated action a lot.

However, with the right kind and direction, we can build elasticity. In the 1930s, the Government saw through a broad reorganization of the state, as established in Whitehall, The history of Peter Hennes on the civil service. We need the same ambition right now – a smart redirection of the top of the government, a fundamental change in the way of thinking in the civil service and an answer that covers the whole society.

Resistance must make a top national priority, accompanied by proper management. The National Security Adviser, renamed the National Adviser on Elasticity and Security, should take responsibility, reporting to the prime minister. We must learn from business and introduce a specialist for elasticity chief to monitor the enhanced process of risk management through Whitehol. In addition, as recommended by Kovid’s investigation, an independent external legal body should be established to investigate the work of the Government for resilience and challenge for challenging.

McFaden, who runs the office of the cabinet, must drive an entrepreneurial risk approach through Whitehol, ensuring that civil servants will learn to accept, understand and manage the risk. As numerous reviews have agreed over the decades, state service should prepare talents in the private sector, reward innovation and agility and encourage officials to work through the departments. The government has promised reform. Now it really has to be delivered.

But the government does not have all the answers. Society also has a role to play. After Sweden, which introduced a new compulsory civic duty, the UK could create a civic reserve staff across the country, focusing on emergency response and computer defense training. These measures will not only help build the foundations for Earth’s elasticity, but will also give young people a lot of skills and will encourage a culture of national responsibility.

The government has pledged to spend more on Britain’s armed services and invest in military industrial capacity. This is necessary, but not enough for the range of extreme risks we face. We need to build an elastic land, just as we have in the past. Fortunately, the fire that affects Heathrow has been extinguished and the services continued. Maybe we don’t have that happiness the next time.