Luke Pollard is a Labour MP and Defence Minister. He joins Iain Dale to answer questions about the Russian spy ship found in UK waters.The undersea cables that a Russian ship was caught trying to spy on this week are "critical to Britain's way of life", influential MPs have warned.
Labour's Tan Dhesi and the Liberal Democrats' Mike Martin, who both serve on the Defence Select Committee, told LBC's Tonight with Andrew Marr that it would be "catastrophic" if a hostile power managed to sabotage the North Sea infrastructure.
Undersea infrastructure is vital for the UK's internet connection, as well as much of the country's energy infrastructure.
The spy ship, called Yantar, came back into the North Sea on Monday after first entering last November.
Defence Secretary John Healey told MPs he had given the green light for a Royal Navy nuclear-powered submarine to surface to push the spy ship away.
Mr Dhesi said that if the military did not force such incursions away, the country could be left open to disaster.
"The undersea cables, that infrastructure there is critical to our way of life, to our commerce, to the way that information flows, not to mention defence," he said.
Yantar has now passed out of the Strait of Dover and is now in Dutch waters, Mr Healey said.
It's thought it was in UK waters for around 24 hours this week.
Defence Secretary John Healey issued a direct threat to President Putin, saying: "we see you, we know what you are doing and we will not shy away from robust action to protect this country" after telling MPs about the Russian spy vessel's movements.
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