Britain faces 'moment of consequence' as threats from adversaries mount, spy chief says

LONDON - Britain is at a "moment of consequence" amid increasingly brazen behaviour from adversaries and a narrowing window to stay ahead in the race to harness technology along with its allies, a British spy chief will say on Wednesday.

Delivering the first annual lecture for her GCHQ organisation, Anne Keast-Butler will warn that the world is in a "new era of radical uncertainty, contested geopolitics and rapidly changing technology," her office said.

"The risk of miscalculation is as high as I've ever seen it," she will say, according to extracts of her speech.

GCHQ, whose role includes eavesdropping on communications and providing national cybersecurity, is one of the three arms of British intelligence, which have for years been warning about the threats posed by Russia and China.

Last month, the head of the National Cyber Security Centre, which is part of GCHQ, warned that Britain should brace for a rise in cyberattacks linked to hostile states.

In her speech at Bletchley Park, the secret home of Britain's codebreakers in World War Two, Keast-Butler will say Russia is "scaling up its daily hybrid activity against the UK and Europe" and "relentlessly targeting critical infrastructure, democratic processes, supply chains and public trust."

She will also highlight her agency's role in "disrupting Russia's efforts to smuggle Western tech, fending off cyber attacks, and countering reckless sabotage and assassination attempts," according to the speech extracts.

With the speed of technological change, such as the advancements in artificial intelligence, the "ground beneath our feet is shifting" and Britain and its allies face a challenge to stay ahead of the competition, not least from China, she will add.

(Reporting by Michael HoldenEditing by Tomasz Janowski)

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect.

This story was originally published May 27, 2026 at 4:03 AM.