British universities should be pushed to help develop technology for the military amid concerns China is “out-innovating” the West, according to a draft policy considered by Labour.
A secret document prepared for senior figures including Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, warns Beijing has gained a strategic edge over the UK and its allies by cultivating a network of defence-focused universities.
In response, it suggests a Labour government could “explore the creation of a Universities Defence Alliance” to link British universities with the Armed Forces and “match the rate of innovation by our systemic competitors”.
The alliance would “coordinate academic research aims”, taking into account military planning and global trends, the document seen by The Telegraph adds.
The report, which was sent to Ms Reeves and John Healey, the shadow defence secretary, lays out Labour’s thinking about issues affecting Britain’s defence sector, including how the party plans to reform government procurement and lay out a new industrial strategy.
However, a Labour source on Monday cautioned that the document was still being worked on and denied that the universities idea was official party policy.
They refused to comment on the specific proposal but added: “We talk to people about a lot of ideas, but ultimately what is policy is what we have said publicly.”
It comes amid separate concerns that Beijing is exploiting research at UK institutions. Parliament’s intelligence and security committee last year warned that collaborations with British academics had been used to benefit the Chinese military.
A study by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute found that the People’s Liberation Army sent approximately 500 military scientists to UK academic institutions in the decade up to 2017.
The Labour defence document warns that China has in recent years gone beyond “a copy/paste operation for post-Cold War Russian weaponry”. Beijing is instead mounting “an industrial-scale attempt to out-innovate the West”, using state-owned defence companies and universities engaged in top secret military research, it adds.
China recently launched its first home-made and designed aircraft carrier, Fujian, featuring electromagnetic catapults, an example of its pace of innovation.
The advanced technology is only used by one other carrier in the world, the American-made USS Gerald R Ford.
The Labour document argues the Ministry of Defence today lacks a way to bring companies, suppliers and universities together to mobilise investment and “work collaboratively on problem solving”.
As part of its plans to better coordinate Britain’s defence industry, the party has set out plans to create a new Defence Industrial Strategy Council, which will feature businesses as well as trade unions.
The aim of the industrial strategy will be to boost the defence industry, making it account for a bigger share of national economic output and more exports, the document says.
If the party wins power in the July 4 election, it has also pledged a focus on buying more “Made in Britain” equipment by making it harder for the MoD to buy kit from abroad.
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