Strong defence is the foundation of prosperity
The City’s success and status as a global financial hub rests on the foundations of stability, rule of law and security. So the City should show its support however it can and we’re glad to play our own part, says Susan Langley
This year’s Strategic Defence Review shone a spotlight on a question we can no longer avoid: how ready is the UK for the kinds of conflict now being shaped by data, autonomous systems and artificial intelligence? These challenges are moving at a remarkable pace; so fast that even some of the world’s biggest technology leaders are beginning to ask where it’s all heading.
In my conversations with business and government leaders about the geopolitical landscape, defence investment and the wider global economy, I know that the instability we are living through is not an exception, and in fact, it is the new norm compared to the period of relative peace many have grown up with. We have to be ready to live in a more dangerous world and that means there can be absolutely no complacency when it comes to our national defence. Our security and resilience will demand a national effort from government, from society and, crucially, from business.
The City has a particularly important role to play. As one of the world’s most important centres for raising global capital, we can help back the companies developing the tools, technologies and ideas that will keep us safer. Innovative start-ups, mid-caps and established defence firms across the country all need investment if they are to respond to the new threats we face. And they then need government contracts.
That’s why, at Mansion House, we held City Defence Day, fusing together a Defence and Resilience Tech Scale Up Showcase with our annual Defence Lecture. This was the City and the mayoralty doing what it does best: connecting capital with opportunity. Some 21 of the most promising British defence and dual-use technology firms seeking £350m from just under 300 investors, all gathered in the heart of the City at Mansion House. Luke Pollard MP, minister of state for defence readiness and industry, also joined us, alongside general Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine’s Ambassador to the UK and the former commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Convening power
That is the City’s convening power in action. We should also be honest with ourselves that the prosperity, success and status we enjoy as a global financial hub rests on the foundations of stability, rule of law and security. So the City should show its support however it can and we’re glad to play our own part.
There is also a wider point here that defence investment often drives innovation that goes on to improve everyday life well beyond security and resilience. Take radar, developed by British scientists in the First and Second World Wars to help monitor enemy aircraft before they reached our shores. Today, radar technology is critical to air traffic control, weather monitoring and vehicle sensing. The same is true of the complicated named cavity magnetron technology, originally developed for radar systems and now used in microwave ovens.
So, our approach to defence investment should be two-fold. Yes, the City must play its part in supporting national security and resilience. But we should also recognise that this is about backing the next wave of technological advancement. Alongside our series of investment showcase events, we will also host the annual City Quantum and AI Summit at Mansion House in October. Global investment in quantum computing has increased six-fold to $12.6bn in 2025. The UK already has a strong position in this race, but if we want to stay at the forefront, we have to do more.
The City has never been short of ambition, ingenuity or the ability to bring people together. Now we need to direct that energy towards strengthening our country’s resilience, supporting brilliant British businesses and making sure the technologies of the future are developed, funded and scaled here in the UK. If we get this right, we will not only make the country safer, but help build the next generation of growth and opportunity too.
Susan Langley is Lady Mayor of the City of London