Britain names Gwyn Jenkins as national security adviser

WARSAW (Reuters) – Britain will appoint Gwyn Jenkins, one of the country’s top generals, as its next national security adviser, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told reporters on Tuesday.

Jenkins is currently vice-chief of the defence staff, the deputy to Chief of the Defence Staff Tony Radakin, and worked previously at the prime minister’s No. 10 Downing Street office as a military assistant.

“I’m really pleased that Gwyn is going to do this job – in an incredibly uncertain and increasingly dangerous world, it’s important the person doing this job has the requisite set of skills to provide advice to me and to help navigate that landscape,” Sunak told reporters during a trip to Poland.

“It’s the first time we’ve had someone with a military background in that job and obviously he has worked in No. 10 as well so has that policy experience,” Sunak said.

The Financial Times and other media have reported that current National Security Adviser Tim Barrow will be appointed as Britain’s next ambassador to the United States.

Sunak declined to comment specifically on those reports.