FEARS that dependence on technology is leaving the UK open to catastrophe are voiced in a new book by former West Dorset MP Sir Oliver Letwin.

The ex-MP was a member of the National Security Council for six years as the minister with responsibility for the UK’s national resilience.

At the heart of government for more than three decades and leading an investigation into the resilience of the UK's infrastructure, Sir Oliver will be in conversation with economist Sir Howard Davies about the new book, Apocalypse How? Technology and the Threat of Disaster, at a Friends of Bridport Literary Festival special event.

The talk is open to all and takes place on Saturday 4 April at The Electric Palace, Bridport, at 11.30am.

Publishers Atlantic Books call the work ‘an urgent and eye-opening examination of how technology is leaving society open to myriad catastrophic effects’.

As the world becomes better connected and we grow ever more dependent on technology, the risks to our infrastructure are multiplying. Whether it’s a hostile state striking the national grid - like Russia did with Ukraine in 2016 - or a freak solar storm, Sir Oliver says our systems have become so interlinked that if one part goes down, the rest topple like dominoes.

He was the area’s MP from 1997 until September last year when he was expelled from the party along with 20 other rebel Conservative MPs who voted for his motion to take control of parliamentary business from the government. They wanted a bill to be introduced which would prevent the Prime Minister's policy of allowing the United Kingdom to leave the EU without a deal on 29 October.

In the new book, Sir Oliver looks 10 years into the future and imagines a United Kingdom in which the national grid has collapsed.

He says reliant on the internet, automated electric cars, voice-over IP, GPS, and law and order would disintegrate.

As more and more news stories appear about convergent technology failing - from hostile states launching cyber attacks to driverless cars malfunctioning - this book reveals why we’re more vulnerable than ever.

Using groundbreaking research and real-life case studies, he takes us from high-level government meetings to elderly citizens waiting in vain for their carers, in what the publishers call a ‘wake-up call’ questioning our unshakeable faith in technology.

He uses his vast experience in government to outline how businesses and government should respond to catastrophic black swan events that seem distant and implausible until they occur.

*Sir Oliver Letwin in conversation with economist Sir Howard Davies, Saturday April 4, Electric Palace, Bridport, at 11.30am. Tickets are £15 and available from Bridport Tourist Information Centre on 01308 424901.