Llanelli MP visits NATO

Llanelli’s MP Nia Griffith recently visited NATO headquarters in her role as Labour’s Shadow Defence Secretary.

Ms Griffith explained: “In an uncertain world, it is all the more important that we stand together with our allies, and work through organisations like NATO and the UN to achieve a more peaceful and secure world.”

“It was a privilege to visit NATO headquarters last month along with my colleague Emily Thornberry MP, the Shadow Foreign Secretary. In a packed two days, Emily and I met the Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe, a post held by a British Army officer, as well as the UK ambassador to NATO and a number of NATO officials.

“We discussed important issues like how we can work with our fellow NATO countries to pool resources so that we can defend the UK and our allies more effectively. We focussed particularly on how to combat new and emerging means of attack, such as cyber, which are becoming ever more easily and cheaply accessible, not just to state actors but also to terrorist groups.

“As well as the need to protect ourselves from the chaos that can be inflicted by hacking computer systems, we also need to be much more aware of how powerful technology can be used to bombard us with fake news and damage our democracies. We need to build resilience against such attacks.

“At the end of the visit, we went to the St Symphorien Military Cemetery, which contains the graves of over 500 soldiers. Amongst those buried here were John Parr and George Lawrence Price – the first and last Commonwealth soldiers killed in action during the First World War. It was a moving reminder of the cost of conflict.”