The Joint Committee on National Security Strategy (JCNSS) has had repeated requests for Jonathan Powell<\/a>, appointed to the role in November, to give evidence denied by the Cabinet Office.<\/p>\n The chair of the committee has now accused the Government of \u201cside-stepping\u201d scrutiny and \u201cundermining confidence\u201d in the accountability of Britain\u2019s national security <\/a>apparatus.<\/p>\n Parliamentary committees have questioned every serving national security adviser since the role was created in 2010, but Pat Mcfadden, a senior Cabinet official, denied the committee\u2019s requests on the grounds that Powell was employed as a special adviser rather than a civil servant, like his predecessors.<\/p>\n In a letter to JCNSS Chair Matt Western, Mcfadden said it was a \u201clong-standing practice\u201d that special advisers should not give evidence to select committees on behalf of government.<\/p>\n The Cabinet Office instead proposed sending the deputy national security advisers and Cabinet Secretary Sir Chris Wormald and suggested that Powell is happy to meet with the committee in private.<\/p>\n Western said the move \u201cundermines confidence\u201d in UK national security and establishes a \u201cworrying precedent for side-stepping scrutiny\u201d.<\/p>\n He told The i Paper: \u201cThe Government\u2019s decisions on national security affect all of us. One of the most important safeguards in this sensitive area is public accountability to Parliament \u2013 which ensures senior officials are held to account for getting the big calls right.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m deeply concerned by the Government\u2019s refusal to allow the National Security Adviser to give public evidence to the committee. This undermines confidence in the accountability of the security apparatus, and establishes a worrying precedent for side-stepping scrutiny.<\/p>\n \u201cEvents across the world show that we need to be vigilant in safeguarding the soft guard-rails of our democracy. The Government risks boxing itself into a difficult position with an unforced error of judgement.<\/p>\n \u201cI urge the Government to change course as soon as possible.\u201d <\/p>\n The Labour MP for Warwick and Leamington Spa is keen on hearing evidence from Powell on a number of issues currently being investigated by the committee, from the UK\u2019s approach to national security to countering hybrid threats from Russia<\/a>.<\/p>\n His comments come weeks after a separate parliamentary watchdog accused the Government of interfering with appropriate scrutiny of UK intelligence services.<\/p>\n In a rare public letter, the chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) warned that \u201ccontinued interference\u201d from Cabinet officials was causing an \u201coversight crisis\u201d within Government. <\/p>\n The ISC has statutory powers to hold the UK\u2019s intelligence agencies to account, but its chair Lord Beamish accused the Government of having \u201ccomprehensively dismantled\u201d safeguards around its independence.<\/p>\n He wrote: \u201cThe root of the problem lies in the control exerted over the committee\u2019s staff and resourcing by the Cabinet Office \u2013 despite the committee overseeing substantive parts of the Cabinet Office.<\/p>\n \u201cThat, self-evidently, should not be the case. An oversight body should not sit within, and be beholden to, an organisation which it oversees.\u201d<\/p>\n The UK\u2019s national security adviser acts as the key adviser to the prime minister on security, intelligence, defence<\/a>, and some foreign policy matters. They are based in the Cabinet Office and work across departments to advise on national security issues ranging from the UK\u2019s approach to the war in Ukraine, to hybrid threats posed by hostile states, such as Russia, China, and Iran.<\/p>\n![\"OXFORD,](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SEI_226391646.jpg\")
National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell, a former diplomat, served as Tony Blair\u2019s chief of staff before being brought back into No 10 by Keir Starmer last November (Photo: David Levenson)<\/p>\n