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Hello and welcome to BBC Parliament's live coverage from the | :00:00. | :00:10. | |
House of Commons. In an hour cosmic time, there'll be two urgent | :00:11. | :00:14. | |
questions. The first on child refugees in Calais and the second on | :00:15. | :00:18. | |
guidance to civil service under the EU referendum. MPs will then be to | :00:19. | :00:23. | |
record -- approve the referendum which takes place on the 23rd of | :00:24. | :00:27. | |
June and the start of the official referendum period on the 15th of | :00:28. | :00:31. | |
April. After that, the Labour Party will lead the debate and the UK | :00:32. | :00:36. | |
steel industry, calling on the government to publish a full | :00:37. | :00:39. | |
industrial strategy which includes the procurement policy which commits | :00:40. | :00:43. | |
to using British steel wherever possible for publicly funded | :00:44. | :00:47. | |
infrastructure projects. Join me for a round up of the day in both houses | :00:48. | :00:51. | |
of parliament at 11pm this evening. Now over two House of Commons live. | :00:52. | :01:08. | |
Order, order. We will not proceed to read the title of the bill. Set down | :01:09. | :01:17. | |
for consideration this day. Transport for London billboards to | :01:18. | :01:18. | |
be considered. Objection taken. Monday the 7th of March. Thank you. | :01:19. | :01:32. | |
Order. Questions to the secretary of state defence,. With permission I | :01:33. | :01:41. | |
will answer this question together with question seven and 11. On the | :01:42. | :01:46. | |
20th of January I attended the defence minister Boss meeting where | :01:47. | :01:51. | |
we reviewed options for intensifying the military operation against Daesh | :01:52. | :01:56. | |
in both Iraq and Syria. On the 11th of February I attended a full | :01:57. | :02:00. | |
counter Daesh military meeting where we agreed on accelerated plan | :02:01. | :02:05. | |
including the liberation and importance of the liberation of both | :02:06. | :02:10. | |
rack and another city and pressing on the Daesh on all sides. I think | :02:11. | :02:16. | |
we have -- the community has previously asked the government to | :02:17. | :02:21. | |
do more in the fight against Daesh. Having just returned from | :02:22. | :02:25. | |
parliamentary delegation in Saudi Arabia, understood and that the | :02:26. | :02:30. | |
Saudi authorities have sent ground troops into Syria to defeat Daesh | :02:31. | :02:34. | |
but require air cover. Will the United Kingdom and other partners | :02:35. | :02:40. | |
and look at that request. I welcome the cooperation, contribution of | :02:41. | :02:44. | |
states including Saudi Arabia and they were president of the meeting | :02:45. | :02:53. | |
in Brussels. I welcome the Saudi redeployment of those 15 aircraft to | :02:54. | :02:57. | |
the Coalition air campaign. I have also seen the reports that my | :02:58. | :03:01. | |
honourable friend has referred to and Saudi Arabia is prepared to send | :03:02. | :03:04. | |
troops to the fight in Syria and we will wait to see the details of any | :03:05. | :03:09. | |
plan before commenting on what support the UK will provide as part | :03:10. | :03:17. | |
of the global Coalition. Russian air strikes have clearly targeted | :03:18. | :03:22. | |
civilian populations in Syria. Killing and maiming many innocent | :03:23. | :03:27. | |
men, women, and children and degrading the Syria moderate forces | :03:28. | :03:32. | |
that we are relying on to defeat Daesh in the region. With these | :03:33. | :03:36. | |
Secretary of State align what actions we are taking now to protect | :03:37. | :03:41. | |
these populations and underpin our military strategy in the region? I | :03:42. | :03:45. | |
know my honourable friend will welcome these disassociation of | :03:46. | :03:50. | |
hostilities at the weekend which appears to be largely holding. Able | :03:51. | :03:55. | |
only to succeed if there is a major change in behaviour by the Syrian | :03:56. | :03:59. | |
regime and by its principal backer, Russia. It is Russia that has | :04:00. | :04:02. | |
honoured this agreement by ending the attacks on Syrian civilians and | :04:03. | :04:08. | |
opposition groups and using its influence to ensure the Syrian | :04:09. | :04:12. | |
regime does the same. As part of the second part of the question, there | :04:13. | :04:16. | |
has been some progress in the last few weeks and reaching the seeds | :04:17. | :04:22. | |
areas. Over some 60,000 people have been reached with aid through the | :04:23. | :04:27. | |
United Nations food programme. Continuing with the Russian bombing, | :04:28. | :04:33. | |
can I ask what my honourable friend and the government is doing to | :04:34. | :04:36. | |
highlight Russia's indiscriminate behaviour and what contact has he | :04:37. | :04:41. | |
had with the Russian authorities to end this outrage? Both my right | :04:42. | :04:46. | |
honourable friend the Foreign Secretary and I have been very clear | :04:47. | :04:51. | |
and public that the Russian actions here have been undermining the | :04:52. | :04:55. | |
prospects for ending the conflict in Syria. We welcome the Russian | :04:56. | :05:00. | |
contribution to the most recent agreement that came into effect on | :05:01. | :05:07. | |
Saturday. Russia can and should play a positive role in the fight against | :05:08. | :05:11. | |
Daesh, ending the conflict in Syria. But I have to tell the House that | :05:12. | :05:17. | |
over 70% of Russian air strikes have not been against Daesh at all, there | :05:18. | :05:20. | |
have been against civilians and moderate opposition groups in Syria. | :05:21. | :05:26. | |
And appalling contribution. This was to a conflict that must end. Can I | :05:27. | :05:31. | |
ask the Secretary of State what the members of governments have had with | :05:32. | :05:37. | |
discussions about extending military action including air strikes to | :05:38. | :05:42. | |
Libya? There have not been discussions about extending air | :05:43. | :05:44. | |
strikes to Libya because of the moment there is no government in | :05:45. | :05:50. | |
Libya, we have been working to assist the formation of a new | :05:51. | :05:54. | |
government in Libya and it is for that government to make clear what | :05:55. | :05:58. | |
assistance it requires. We are party to the Libyan international mission | :05:59. | :06:04. | |
and we will see what kind of support the new government wants, whether | :06:05. | :06:08. | |
that is assistance with advice, or training, or any other kind of | :06:09. | :06:10. | |
support. Last week in of the defence committee were | :06:11. | :06:22. | |
informed of the full horror of Daesh as they forced out of territory. | :06:23. | :06:29. | |
Specifically the minefields and IE D's that were left behind, including | :06:30. | :06:36. | |
toilets that are being left with the resources to being removed are not | :06:37. | :06:41. | |
available. What conversations are you having with partners to ensure | :06:42. | :06:44. | |
this is taking care of? The honourable Lady is quite right. | :06:45. | :06:50. | |
Daesh have been seeking these towns and villages, seeding them with | :06:51. | :06:57. | |
improvised explosives and the British contribution to the Iraqi | :06:58. | :07:02. | |
forces has focused indeed on counter IED training which we now supply at | :07:03. | :07:09. | |
all four centres and if there is more we can do to assist the Iraqi | :07:10. | :07:13. | |
and Kurdish forces in that training we will certainly do so. What | :07:14. | :07:19. | |
support will the UK government be giving to the UN who are today | :07:20. | :07:24. | |
giving fresh aid to Syria under the cease-fire? We have been making our | :07:25. | :07:30. | |
contribution to the United Nations and we are ready to help do more. | :07:31. | :07:35. | |
This is not easy for convoys to get through to some of the very hard to | :07:36. | :07:41. | |
reach areas, and the a drop carried out last week was not entirely | :07:42. | :07:44. | |
successful. It was dropped from a great height into a high wind, a | :07:45. | :07:52. | |
number of the pallets do not reach the ground in the best way to get | :07:53. | :07:58. | |
aid is by land convoys, but that is not easy in some of these | :07:59. | :08:02. | |
particularly hard-to-reach areas. Parts of the defence committed he | :08:03. | :08:08. | |
visited Jordan and Lebanon and we were concerned to see that Daesh | :08:09. | :08:11. | |
were threatening borders of countries that are relatively | :08:12. | :08:18. | |
stable. Where Britain has made a huge and impressive investment in | :08:19. | :08:20. | |
trying to assist those countries, what more can my right honourable | :08:21. | :08:25. | |
friend do and the government do to support these countries in dealing | :08:26. | :08:32. | |
with a clear and present danger from this organisation? The Daesh | :08:33. | :08:39. | |
represents a threat to the stability of the entire region, including the | :08:40. | :08:43. | |
neighbours to Iraq and Syria. We have already made a huge | :08:44. | :08:47. | |
contribution towards training in Jordan, with the Jordanian forces, | :08:48. | :08:54. | |
we have more to do there as well. We have recently been playing a role in | :08:55. | :08:57. | |
Lebanon as well with helping the border defenses of that country. | :08:58. | :09:04. | |
Thank you Mr Speaker. Can the secretary of State tell us whether | :09:05. | :09:09. | |
he believes that the use of the much... Missile against Daesh that | :09:10. | :09:17. | |
the prime minister assured us it would cut off the head of the snake | :09:18. | :09:23. | |
in Raqqa? Room Stone is one of the munitions available to our armed | :09:24. | :09:27. | |
forces alongside bombs and the hellfire missile. We can tell the | :09:28. | :09:33. | |
honourable Tubman, the United Kingdom forces have flown over 2100 | :09:34. | :09:38. | |
combat missions against Daesh and have carried out over 600 strikes, | :09:39. | :09:43. | |
including the use of brimstone missiles. But one of the points for | :09:44. | :09:50. | |
review in the Minister review is what more can we do to target the | :09:51. | :09:56. | |
infrastructure that supports the Daesh, the logistics and its supply | :09:57. | :09:59. | |
routes, as well as the effort we have been making in support of Iraqi | :10:00. | :10:06. | |
forces. Could the Secretary of State then comment on recent reports in | :10:07. | :10:09. | |
the New York Times that says that although Daesh numbers have fallen | :10:10. | :10:14. | |
in both Iraq and Syria, the numbers and Libya have actually doubled in | :10:15. | :10:20. | |
that same time period? And isn't it the case that the bombing campaign, | :10:21. | :10:25. | |
rather than diminishing Daesh have actually simply displaced them? I do | :10:26. | :10:30. | |
not think there is direct evidence of moving from one country to | :10:31. | :10:33. | |
another. Daesh as in the back foot in Iraq, the Iraqi forces and | :10:34. | :10:39. | |
Kurdish forces with support from the Coalition have liberated a number of | :10:40. | :10:47. | |
cities and Daesh is being pushed back. That is not happening yet in | :10:48. | :10:54. | |
Syria and I am can send about the proliferation of Daesh along the | :10:55. | :10:57. | |
Libyan coastline which is why we have been urgently assisting the | :10:58. | :11:01. | |
formation of a new Libyan government. -- concerned. Coalition | :11:02. | :11:08. | |
efforts have a effect on stopping Daesh as well. In Iraq, but also | :11:09. | :11:15. | |
domestically in Syria. With the Secretary of State agree with me | :11:16. | :11:19. | |
that the full frontal assault on recto might have the opposite effect | :11:20. | :11:24. | |
and possibly try to do something about the poisonous ideology and | :11:25. | :11:28. | |
funding, it is more important than conventional attacks? I do agree. We | :11:29. | :11:33. | |
have to look at all of these things and deal with Daesh across the | :11:34. | :11:38. | |
border. From its ideology, we have to cut off its financing, we have to | :11:39. | :11:44. | |
deal with the message that it is putting out to local populations and | :11:45. | :11:48. | |
yes, preparations for the liberation of both cities are going to require | :11:49. | :11:54. | |
very careful reparation to assure the Syria population that it will be | :11:55. | :11:59. | |
able to enjoy better security once the Daesh are thrown out. As we | :12:00. | :12:07. | |
considered these issues are thoughts are with the members of our Armed | :12:08. | :12:11. | |
Forces currently serving in the Middle East. And all those living | :12:12. | :12:15. | |
under the brutality of Daesh and the victims of terror attacks across the | :12:16. | :12:19. | |
world. The secretary of state is right to simultaneously welcome the | :12:20. | :12:24. | |
progress towards cease-fire in the contributions made while condemning | :12:25. | :12:27. | |
the previous Russian attacks on moderate forces that the Coalition | :12:28. | :12:30. | |
is working with. Can he tell us at this stage how reliable he feels | :12:31. | :12:34. | |
with the 70,000 moderate Syrian forces at this moment in time? I am | :12:35. | :12:40. | |
grateful to the honourable Tillman and indeed, the official support | :12:41. | :12:47. | |
that has been given to the campaign against Daesh. The 70,000 figure was | :12:48. | :12:52. | |
not the government's figure but a figure produced independently by the | :12:53. | :12:56. | |
joint intelligence committee. We have no reason to believe that that | :12:57. | :13:02. | |
figure is the wrong one, indeed the Civil War in Syria has been raging | :13:03. | :13:08. | |
for six years now so there have been considerable forces engaged against | :13:09. | :13:12. | |
the Syria and regime of which the 70,000 are a formidable part. Just | :13:13. | :13:19. | |
two days ago, Isis launched a series of attacks the Kurdish forces to the | :13:20. | :13:24. | |
north of rack up. Given that we were hoping that moderate forces were | :13:25. | :13:30. | |
waiting to take the fact to -- that the macro fight to do Daesh is | :13:31. | :13:34. | |
concerning. Can you tell us a little more about how effective you think | :13:35. | :13:38. | |
the UK strikes have been in achieving our objectives with Daesh | :13:39. | :13:42. | |
and supporting moderate forces to take back control and liberate rack | :13:43. | :13:47. | |
a? UK is playing the second most important part and Coalition air | :13:48. | :13:53. | |
activity and strikes. Surveillance and intelligence as well. Daesh are | :13:54. | :13:58. | |
being pushed back in Iraq, no doubt about that. They have pushed up the | :13:59. | :14:02. | |
Tigris and pushed back west along the Euphrates. It is much more | :14:03. | :14:08. | |
complicated and we are concerned that some of the more recent reports | :14:09. | :14:12. | |
that may suggest coordination between Syrian Democratic forces and | :14:13. | :14:20. | |
the Assad regime, which is not helpful for the long-term state of | :14:21. | :14:25. | |
defeating Daesh. Question number two. With permission I would like to | :14:26. | :14:33. | |
answer questions two and 16 together. In the SDSR published last | :14:34. | :14:38. | |
November, the Minister of defence agreed to new strategic objective to | :14:39. | :14:41. | |
contributing to the nation pause my prosperity, we do this in many ways, | :14:42. | :14:45. | |
not the least through procurement spending of 22 million a year with | :14:46. | :14:50. | |
UK industry, half of which is in the manufacturing sector. The security | :14:51. | :14:54. | |
defence industry is the largest in Europe and plays a vital role in | :14:55. | :14:58. | |
providing battle winning capabilities for our Armed Forces. | :14:59. | :15:01. | |
We are driving greater innovation for the defence procurement, | :15:02. | :15:06. | |
maximizing opportunities for investing in skills, and contribute | :15:07. | :15:10. | |
into a more prosperous economy. That sounded good Mr Speaker, and I am | :15:11. | :15:15. | |
glad the department has such an objective but manufacturing industry | :15:16. | :15:18. | |
in my constituency tell me that this government has seen far too little | :15:19. | :15:22. | |
action in favour of manufacturing, not least in business rates. In | :15:23. | :15:25. | |
pursuit of those objectives, what with the Minister tell me when he | :15:26. | :15:29. | |
last spoke to the Department of business about refreshing and | :15:30. | :15:34. | |
improving their industrial strategy? I can tell the honourable Lady that | :15:35. | :15:38. | |
I have meetings with colleagues in the Department of business | :15:39. | :15:40. | |
innovation skills on a monthly basis, I was in their offices | :15:41. | :15:43. | |
earlier this month. We are constantly looking for better ways | :15:44. | :15:52. | |
to encourage particular medium and businesses in engaging in the supply | :15:53. | :15:54. | |
chain and I am pleased to tell the House that we have confirmed a | :15:55. | :16:00. | |
target of 25% of minister he defence spending through direct and indirect | :16:01. | :16:08. | |
spending. I am genuinely interested in the Minister's approach because I | :16:09. | :16:11. | |
would like him to explain to the House why for example a new Royal | :16:12. | :16:16. | |
navy offshore boats, 60 presented the steel for those boats has been | :16:17. | :16:19. | |
procured from Sweden when in my part of the where old and Wales, we have | :16:20. | :16:23. | |
a crisis on the behalf of the steel industry? I am happy to try and | :16:24. | :16:28. | |
respond to the honourable gentleman in relation particularly to the | :16:29. | :16:33. | |
specifics he raised. 20% of the steel used in the three offshore | :16:34. | :16:37. | |
patrol vessels has been sourced from UK steel mills. The systems is the | :16:38. | :16:45. | |
prime contractor and has 24 companies to tend to the steel | :16:46. | :16:49. | |
contract, only for Mac or returned, one of which was from a British | :16:50. | :16:53. | |
contractor which won the contract to provide steel which was been sourced | :16:54. | :17:03. | |
from a wide range of suppliers. Not only did I see the skills that | :17:04. | :17:08. | |
helped manufacture parts for Typhoon and joint strike fighter, but I saw | :17:09. | :17:11. | |
the millions of pounds that they are investing in the training academy | :17:12. | :17:16. | |
for the places opening later this year and also into 3-D printing what | :17:17. | :17:20. | |
they will be able to make parts and prototypes vote in plastic and in | :17:21. | :17:24. | |
metals. Does he agree with me that it is these investments that help to | :17:25. | :17:27. | |
keep the systems at the forefront in their field in the world? I think | :17:28. | :17:33. | |
the honourable gentleman speaks not only magnificent for his | :17:34. | :17:40. | |
constituency but also for the defence contractor who's the main | :17:41. | :17:43. | |
centre of innovation in his constituency. I would like to | :17:44. | :17:47. | |
congratulate and applaud him for that. Given that the Ministry of | :17:48. | :17:54. | |
defence procurement operates under European law, what assessment has | :17:55. | :17:57. | |
the Minister made of the potential exit from the European Union on the | :17:58. | :18:01. | |
UK businesses that rely on EU contracts? As the honourable | :18:02. | :18:10. | |
gentleman knows, the UK defence and security industry is the largest in | :18:11. | :18:15. | |
Europe, we continued to place as a default position, contracts on open | :18:16. | :18:21. | |
competition basis. The EU procurement directives apply to our | :18:22. | :18:25. | |
procurement, which means that EU contractors are eligible to compete | :18:26. | :18:30. | |
for our contracts in the same way as UK and other international companies | :18:31. | :18:34. | |
are other than those where we have declared the article 346 exemption | :18:35. | :18:39. | |
from our stalls which accounts for about 35% of our procurement. On | :18:40. | :18:48. | |
procurement, I hope that my honourable friend also applied to | :18:49. | :18:56. | |
Arab territories and with the last recess, I had the chance of reaching | :18:57. | :19:00. | |
out to men and women there. Will the government join me in playing, | :19:01. | :19:07. | |
contribute... And will work closely with the fork Islands government to | :19:08. | :19:12. | |
increase Erki Erm and their two British providers? I am grateful to | :19:13. | :19:16. | |
my honourable friend for his question. I think he might prefer to | :19:17. | :19:20. | |
ask that question to the Secretary of State, he just visited the | :19:21. | :19:26. | |
foregoing islands, the first secretary of state to do so for over | :19:27. | :19:29. | |
a decade. I can confirm to him that as part of the SDSR conclusions, we | :19:30. | :19:35. | |
have committed to ?180 million from the Ministry of defence in the fork | :19:36. | :19:42. | |
when islands, including... There are more than 14,000 high skilled value | :19:43. | :19:47. | |
jobs in the sector in the Northwest alone. 40% higher than the national | :19:48. | :19:52. | |
average. We heard before about the lack of a proper defence industrial | :19:53. | :19:56. | |
strategy with respect to steal, so when is the government going to look | :19:57. | :20:00. | |
at the other economic benefits when it comes to protecting those high | :20:01. | :20:06. | |
skill, high value jobs but also creating new ones in the context of | :20:07. | :20:10. | |
the defence procurement? I think the honourable gentleman should have a | :20:11. | :20:19. | |
word with the leader of his party. We care about both security and | :20:20. | :20:23. | |
prosperity on this side and the honourable gentleman might want to | :20:24. | :20:27. | |
remind his leader that grandstanding on a Saturday places not only the | :20:28. | :20:30. | |
ultimate security of the nation at risk but also the tens of thousands | :20:31. | :20:35. | |
of jobs and hundreds of thousands of companies in the submarine industry | :20:36. | :20:42. | |
in this country at risk. Thank you Mr Speaker, perhaps if the Minister | :20:43. | :20:50. | |
listens to the questions and stops during allegations of grandstanding | :20:51. | :20:53. | |
and takes serious the issue of the steel industry in this country, the | :20:54. | :21:00. | |
chronic underinvestment in this country by this government is | :21:01. | :21:06. | |
nothing less than national disgrace. As my honourable friend said | :21:07. | :21:10. | |
earlier, 60% of steel required for the Royal Navy's offshore patrol | :21:11. | :21:15. | |
vessels came from Sweden, to name just one. Doesn't the Minister agree | :21:16. | :21:25. | |
that with the way employment, industrial and economic factors in | :21:26. | :21:30. | |
this policy, which is obviously not working when he has such a low level | :21:31. | :21:39. | |
of interest in these companies... UK supplies to make a significant | :21:40. | :21:44. | |
contribution to supplied steel for our defence programmes, including | :21:45. | :21:47. | |
some 94% of the steel in the aircraft carriers, 77,000 tonnes | :21:48. | :21:52. | |
sourced from UK mills. But I do recognise and the government | :21:53. | :21:57. | |
recognises that there is an issue affecting the UK steel industry and | :21:58. | :22:02. | |
that is why we have established the UK steel procurement group which | :22:03. | :22:04. | |
ministers are presenting and I instructed the department to our | :22:05. | :22:10. | |
major defence contractors to ensure that the guidance on steel | :22:11. | :22:14. | |
procurement is spread across the fence. Disengages the UK steel | :22:15. | :22:22. | |
market through pipelines and will ensure cost copulations taken into | :22:23. | :22:24. | |
account over the whole life and not the initial price. Exchanges today | :22:25. | :22:31. | |
are a tad more windy. There are a lot of questions to get through. | :22:32. | :22:35. | |
What is required is a pithy question and a pithy answer. It is not | :22:36. | :22:46. | |
difficult. Question number three. With permission Mr Speaker I should | :22:47. | :22:48. | |
like to answer questions three and ten together. Our civilian workers | :22:49. | :22:54. | |
doing an excellent job and reductions in our workforce would | :22:55. | :22:58. | |
require the MOD to continuously list the way we operate. The majority of | :22:59. | :23:02. | |
plan reductions are already under way and there is now an opportunity | :23:03. | :23:06. | |
to identify further efficiencies in defence. We want to deliver a small | :23:07. | :23:11. | |
productive workforce that will ultimately generate savings for | :23:12. | :23:13. | |
reinvestment into front-line capabilities. Does the Minister | :23:14. | :23:19. | |
acknowledged that further cuts to the civilian workforce will | :23:20. | :23:23. | |
inevitably shift the burden onto our armed forces personnel and how does | :23:24. | :23:28. | |
he think that will affect the retention, recruitment, and morale | :23:29. | :23:30. | |
of our troops which according to service men and women in my | :23:31. | :23:34. | |
constituency, is already worryingly low was white know I do not because | :23:35. | :23:40. | |
ultimately I think the savings which we will be able to make of ?300 | :23:41. | :23:45. | |
million will be able to be reinvested into front-line | :23:46. | :23:50. | |
capability. How does he think the cut to civilian force will affect | :23:51. | :23:56. | |
the expertise that he may lose as a result of those cuts? Under the | :23:57. | :24:01. | |
whole force approach we try to find the balance between regular and | :24:02. | :24:08. | |
reserve service personnel as well as MOD civilians and contractors. This | :24:09. | :24:11. | |
is a mix that successive governments have followed and we try to use the | :24:12. | :24:14. | |
right people in the right place at the right time. Civilians defence | :24:15. | :24:25. | |
equipment and support for one of the MOD is most important responsible it | :24:26. | :24:28. | |
is, making sure our troops have the right care. Along with other things | :24:29. | :24:36. | |
they face cuts. DNS requires a high expertise such as making sure our | :24:37. | :24:41. | |
aircraft are safe. Can the Minister explain how they propose a 30% cut | :24:42. | :24:47. | |
without losing such vital skills? I am afraid I think the honourable | :24:48. | :24:54. | |
Lady may be misinformed. The E and S to not... They do not have a 30% | :24:55. | :24:59. | |
cut. There is not a blanket 30% cut across the fence. If anything she is | :25:00. | :25:04. | |
slightly skimming and she should reflect on her comments. So the | :25:05. | :25:09. | |
Minister is telling us that although there'll be 30% cut across the | :25:10. | :25:11. | |
civilian staff there will be some areas where we will have higher than | :25:12. | :25:17. | |
30% cuts to civilian staff and in some areas 20%. If it is in the | :25:18. | :25:21. | |
strategic defence review, 30% cuts to civilian staff, they say they | :25:22. | :25:25. | |
will not be in DES, so where would they be? The fact of the matter is, | :25:26. | :25:30. | |
the last two years alone, DN as have lost 5000 staff, and at the same | :25:31. | :25:37. | |
time at the cost of contractors have spiralled so that we are now in a | :25:38. | :25:41. | |
ludicrous position where the public accounts committee says we're | :25:42. | :25:44. | |
spending ?250 million on contractors who are advising us on how to | :25:45. | :25:52. | |
reduced reliance on contractors. Perhaps the Minister should take | :25:53. | :25:55. | |
these cuts in a strategic way as opposed to using arbitrary cuts. I | :25:56. | :26:00. | |
am grateful for the pithy question. LAUGHTER There is a basic | :26:01. | :26:05. | |
misunderstanding here where the honourable lady needs to understand | :26:06. | :26:08. | |
that many of these programmes are already in place, for example the | :26:09. | :26:12. | |
footprint strategy which will see our reduction of our footprint by | :26:13. | :26:16. | |
some of 30% will actually mean that we will have less need for civilians | :26:17. | :26:22. | |
in certain parts of the estate. Some of these measures are already under | :26:23. | :26:25. | |
way so we do not simply have to impose a blanket 30% cut, in DENS. | :26:26. | :26:36. | |
They tell is the cornerstone of the United Kingdom's defence. -- Nato | :26:37. | :26:43. | |
is. The European Union plays an important role in supporting Nato's | :26:44. | :26:52. | |
response to international crisis, applying economic humanitarian and | :26:53. | :26:59. | |
diplomatic levers, that Nato does not have. The government therefore | :27:00. | :27:02. | |
believes that the United Kingdom continued membership of a reformed | :27:03. | :27:07. | |
European Union will make us safer and stronger. A cyber threats pose a | :27:08. | :27:14. | |
significant risk to the B defence of the UK, and this has been identified | :27:15. | :27:19. | |
as one of the four security challenges in the 2015 review. But | :27:20. | :27:24. | |
the BU network and Director was created in 2014 to enhance the | :27:25. | :27:29. | |
security of EU member states and is vital that cyber security continues | :27:30. | :27:34. | |
to be a priority for the MOD. As the Minister agree that remaining as a | :27:35. | :27:38. | |
member of the EU greatly enhances our ability to respond to future of | :27:39. | :27:45. | |
cyber threats? Our recent statistic -- strategic review identifies cyber | :27:46. | :27:53. | |
as one of the key threats facing this country. My department has | :27:54. | :27:56. | |
taken over our responsibility for that for cyber security and we are | :27:57. | :28:02. | |
spending over ?2 billion on it. So we can ensure that we keep the | :28:03. | :28:06. | |
institutions of government properly protected, and we do our best to | :28:07. | :28:09. | |
spread good practice amongst our industry as well. On a scale of | :28:10. | :28:18. | |
1-10, and in terms of preserving our national security, I would be | :28:19. | :28:23. | |
Secretary of State rate and compare our membership of Nato with our | :28:24. | :28:29. | |
membership of the EU? I have already said that Nato is the cornerstone of | :28:30. | :28:34. | |
our defence. The EU plays a complementary role. I have not come | :28:35. | :28:38. | |
across any Nato Defense ministers who thinks we should leave the EU or | :28:39. | :28:42. | |
that we would be safer and stronger outside of it the European Union. | :28:43. | :28:51. | |
These two -- the memberships of these two organisations, taken | :28:52. | :28:54. | |
together, does keep a stronger and safer and -- in an uncertain world. | :28:55. | :28:59. | |
Does he think that President Houston, which edits here is the UK | :29:00. | :29:04. | |
left the EU, isn't it clear that we are better off being part of that | :29:05. | :29:09. | |
collaboration, sitting around a table with France, Germany, thinking | :29:10. | :29:13. | |
about all of those security issues. I would not in her office and safer | :29:14. | :29:17. | |
remain part of the EU? -- President Clinton. He was the EU that was able | :29:18. | :29:24. | |
to oppose sanctions on President Clinton 40 dead in... -- Putin. I | :29:25. | :29:37. | |
think Putin would welcome any fracture of either Nato or the EU. | :29:38. | :29:45. | |
Was he not accept that by advancing this point idea that somehow our | :29:46. | :29:52. | |
membership of the EU enhances our national security, is merely playing | :29:53. | :29:57. | |
into the hands of those like Chancellor Merkel, who wants this | :29:58. | :30:02. | |
boat is taken if Britain where the rural vote to remain in the EU, with | :30:03. | :30:08. | |
advanced towards a European army, the result of which will be to | :30:09. | :30:12. | |
undermine Nato, that the organisation he says it the | :30:13. | :30:17. | |
cornerstone of national defence. Let me make it clear that we would not | :30:18. | :30:22. | |
support any move towards a European union army of the kind that my | :30:23. | :30:28. | |
Honorable friend suggests. These two organisations have different | :30:29. | :30:33. | |
memberships at slightly different objectives. Nato is the key part of | :30:34. | :30:39. | |
our defence. It is the cornerstone. But there aren't levers available to | :30:40. | :30:45. | |
the EU, legal, economic, and diplomatic that Nato does not have. | :30:46. | :30:50. | |
Different membership that the numbers above gives of the best of | :30:51. | :30:55. | |
both worlds. That's big number the boat. He must the knowledge that | :30:56. | :31:02. | |
some would prefer a European defence force to ultimately replace Nato. | :31:03. | :31:05. | |
Can you tell the House with his dues are on that and will he also | :31:06. | :31:08. | |
acknowledged that most of our European security successes are | :31:09. | :31:15. | |
bilateral and not as part of the EU? I have not had a fellow European | :31:16. | :31:21. | |
defence minister called on us to create any type of defence force. It | :31:22. | :31:25. | |
was interesting that at the last minute meeting, --/NATO, Germany | :31:26. | :31:35. | |
asked for Nato to help police the UG GMC to have the would-be migrant | :31:36. | :31:40. | |
pressure. Though the role of some of these operations for Nato, a role in | :31:41. | :31:44. | |
other areas for the EU. We are fortunate of being numbers above. | :31:45. | :31:50. | |
Does the Secretary of State agree that it is essential that all | :31:51. | :31:53. | |
members of our Armed Forces serving away from home lesbian being able to | :31:54. | :31:58. | |
vote in the general referendum? -- June referendum. Yes. I will of | :31:59. | :32:09. | |
course, following her reminder, I will ensure that we make every | :32:10. | :32:15. | |
effort to ensure a higher turnout by the Armed Forces as possible. Ngosso | :32:16. | :32:27. | |
the house on the 16th of December that doctors diagnosed after that | :32:28. | :32:34. | |
date -- veterans diagnosed, would receive a payment of ?140,000. I | :32:35. | :32:38. | |
also committed to look at whether this can be extended to veterans | :32:39. | :32:43. | |
diagnosed before that date. We have kept our work and I'm delighted to | :32:44. | :32:47. | |
confirm that this option of a lump sum payment will be extended to | :32:48. | :32:51. | |
veterans who received the war pension, diagnosed before the 2nd of | :32:52. | :32:57. | |
December 2015 as well. That is good news. Many of us in the house, this | :32:58. | :33:11. | |
will be very welcome. I will people affected be able to claim this money | :33:12. | :33:20. | |
going forward? I have instructed the veteran agency to contact all those | :33:21. | :33:24. | |
who we know with immediate effect and I hope these payments will be | :33:25. | :33:28. | |
made shortly after the 11th of April. Will the Minister Dummy | :33:29. | :33:34. | |
impact every to those members who have campaigned and others on this | :33:35. | :33:40. | |
issue and I welcome, where he also paid tribute but the Navy sailor who | :33:41. | :33:46. | |
was recently diagnosed as has to benefit when he got the one issue | :33:47. | :33:51. | |
that more research is to be done and to this devastating disease. I | :33:52. | :33:57. | |
recognise the actions of of of both sides of the house who attend -- | :33:58. | :34:01. | |
campaign to ensure the changes. The last. I'm delighted to stay ahead | :34:02. | :34:03. | |
today to make this announcement. It is directing to do. -- stand here | :34:04. | :34:08. | |
today. -- it is the right thing to do. I have recently got me contacted | :34:09. | :34:15. | |
that's been contacted, who is concerned that services are not | :34:16. | :34:18. | |
being properly funded. Does the Minister find research... It is | :34:19. | :34:29. | |
rightly a matter for the Department of Health, but a more than happy to | :34:30. | :34:32. | |
pick that up with them to see what can be done. I'm delighted to | :34:33. | :34:41. | |
welcome the information. They were cautioned. To make sure that when | :34:42. | :34:47. | |
people are given the option, that there is no unintended consequences, | :34:48. | :34:52. | |
specifically for what was -- what words. For many years, to make sure | :34:53. | :35:01. | |
that if the option of a lump sum, and does not have an impact on her | :35:02. | :35:04. | |
in terms of getting benefits over the years. I page every to him. He | :35:05. | :35:13. | |
is absolutely right. I simply emphasise to the house, this is an | :35:14. | :35:17. | |
option. I will ensure that when recipients are notified, but there | :35:18. | :35:22. | |
are fully informed as to what the options actually mean. | :35:23. | :35:30. | |
The OAD have been undertaking site monitoring rules and stood up alone. | :35:31. | :35:39. | |
We are capable to the next days when the other third parties of agree to | :35:40. | :35:43. | |
site access. Discussion around the taken place at it it is anticipated | :35:44. | :35:47. | |
that an agreement will be signed shortly. We will continue to work | :35:48. | :35:50. | |
closely with all parties to ensure that the matter is resolved as | :35:51. | :35:56. | |
quickly as possible. After 26 years, this nonaction is just not good | :35:57. | :36:02. | |
enough. In recent weeks, the officials have cancelled meetings | :36:03. | :36:05. | |
with landowners to discuss access. They have failed to turn up to | :36:06. | :36:10. | |
meetings with local elective officials, and oxidant at local | :36:11. | :36:13. | |
community with content. When I'm at the Minister on Wednesday, I hope I | :36:14. | :36:17. | |
can get a detailed timeline of when action is going to be taken. I don't | :36:18. | :36:26. | |
accept as the he says. Per my understanding, we have been making | :36:27. | :36:28. | |
positive progress. Action has been taken through monetary and removal | :36:29. | :36:35. | |
is available. There will be him of the responsibilities are in this | :36:36. | :36:37. | |
matter. I look forward to meeting with the honourable gentleman later | :36:38. | :36:40. | |
this week but I look forward to meeting with the honourable | :36:41. | :36:42. | |
gentleman later this week by how we can have constructive approach to | :36:43. | :36:43. | |
moving this issue forward. The new purpose figure, will be | :36:44. | :36:58. | |
crucial for the longer-term future of the UK's for shipbuilding | :36:59. | :37:05. | |
industry. And form a central part of the national shipbuilding strategy, | :37:06. | :37:07. | |
which is due to be published later this year. The decision is expected | :37:08. | :37:12. | |
to be made on the build location into the programme is prepared. | :37:13. | :37:18. | |
Given the expectations that the government raised following the | :37:19. | :37:22. | |
SDSR, that answer is most unwelcome. Does he not agree with me that given | :37:23. | :37:28. | |
the finest ships, anywhere in the world were built, will be the | :37:29. | :37:33. | |
perfect location for this to take place. Three and a half billion has | :37:34. | :37:40. | |
been spent to date on the aircraft carrier programme in Scotland. In | :37:41. | :37:44. | |
2014, we placed the hundred 48 million contract for three of the | :37:45. | :37:49. | |
fees, hoping to sustain a hundred Scottish jobs. And helping to zoo | :37:50. | :37:56. | |
the skills for the eight type 20 type global sales to be constructed. | :37:57. | :38:03. | |
They also may be built on the clock, but too early to commit now. That's | :38:04. | :38:09. | |
on the Clyde. On making this isn't, what a given that the need to avoid | :38:10. | :38:14. | |
the difficulties of the type 45 have had in the electrical and mechanical | :38:15. | :38:20. | |
motion systems? Yes. They are friendships. There were mistakes | :38:21. | :38:26. | |
made under the last government. -- find ships. The Lord heard today, | :38:27. | :38:36. | |
how the patrol vessels, the Minister has admitted that the have been made | :38:37. | :38:40. | |
in Korea with Bristol. They can commit where distillate is going to | :38:41. | :38:43. | |
come home for the type essay. How will we know that but it still will | :38:44. | :38:50. | |
be used for these? Desperate stuff. He is our genetic Opera answer on | :38:51. | :38:56. | |
the use of steel. They will have the opportunity to bid as they always | :38:57. | :39:01. | |
have. We clearly cannot commit in advance of that. We don't even know | :39:02. | :39:05. | |
for certain that British companies will be dusted. We can not commit at | :39:06. | :39:15. | |
this stage. As part of the defence programme, we are reviewing a series | :39:16. | :39:19. | |
of options that are expected to change the way we please bug are | :39:20. | :39:22. | |
some of our establishment. It is early to say what the impact will be | :39:23. | :39:27. | |
on a number of them of the police. -- it of the police. Can you tell me | :39:28. | :39:31. | |
what legal advice he has sought or seek in relation to potentially | :39:32. | :39:38. | |
removing the arm and said Defense police from civilian establishments | :39:39. | :39:40. | |
and replacing them with forces personnel? There are a number of | :39:41. | :39:46. | |
options we are looking at of how we can make the best use of our | :39:47. | :39:54. | |
ministry of Defense police. So the gap a more proactive role in the | :39:55. | :39:58. | |
communities and our service communities. There have been a | :39:59. | :40:00. | |
number of discussions, but the doctors had yet to be explored fully | :40:01. | :40:04. | |
and I will, to the house in due course. Not wishing to the in any | :40:05. | :40:16. | |
way from the wonderful work done by the Ministry of Defense, we've this | :40:17. | :40:21. | |
opportunity to present the work of the world Marines, who police are | :40:22. | :40:29. | |
nuclear facilities in Scotland? I am delighted to join him and the | :40:30. | :40:32. | |
present the work that the Marines have done. I have seen first-hand in | :40:33. | :40:34. | |
recent years. Where there are allegations of | :40:35. | :40:45. | |
serious wrongdoing, they need to be investigated. We are aware of the | :40:46. | :40:49. | |
stressed that the places on our service personnel. We must honour | :40:50. | :40:52. | |
our duty of care to them. This will involve an independent legal advice | :40:53. | :40:56. | |
and support, however where are also aware that a great many allegations | :40:57. | :41:00. | |
are being made on grounds of malice, all by some law firm for profit. | :41:01. | :41:03. | |
Will shortly bring forward measures to close down the shameless and | :41:04. | :41:12. | |
shoddy record. Of allegations were found to be false by the Inquirer. | :41:13. | :41:18. | |
Does my friend agreed that we should all began to reclaim Loughran who | :41:19. | :41:24. | |
shamefully promoted this allegations that anybody who received financial | :41:25. | :41:28. | |
backing from them will be well biased to either return or to make a | :41:29. | :41:33. | |
donation to help the heroes? I thank him for writing this point. The | :41:34. | :41:39. | |
Casey raises the cost of a taxpayer 31 million to defend. The law firm | :41:40. | :41:44. | |
involved have been referred to the solicitors do so -- tribunal. We're | :41:45. | :41:50. | |
looking at ways we can would improve cost, and in others. Those who have | :41:51. | :41:54. | |
their own associations with that firms will need to make their own | :41:55. | :42:01. | |
judgements. Contact him and said to have clarity of intent is picking | :42:02. | :42:04. | |
over the heads of the present soldiers and brave soldiers and | :42:05. | :42:10. | |
servicemen to those who I joined the Army, very worrying for getting | :42:11. | :42:13. | |
people thinking that they might be serving their country and finish up | :42:14. | :42:20. | |
to be accused of that full-time. -- accuse a dreadful crimes. This is a | :42:21. | :42:28. | |
huge stress to service personnel. It corrupts their operations and it | :42:29. | :42:33. | |
also undermines human rights by undermining international | :42:34. | :42:34. | |
humanitarian law. I can totally see why some one who want to join the | :42:35. | :42:38. | |
Armed Forces would be concerned about all three of those things. | :42:39. | :42:41. | |
That is why we bring forward a number of measures that will address | :42:42. | :42:49. | |
all three. The minister and the Secretary of State, have been very | :42:50. | :42:53. | |
vocal about the importance of bringing forward a bill to protect | :42:54. | :42:58. | |
service personnel from spirits, costly, and stressful legal action. | :42:59. | :43:04. | |
There have been one of form reports that the bill is ready to proceed, | :43:05. | :43:09. | |
but is being held of an Downing Street for fear that it might | :43:10. | :43:16. | |
somehow impinge on an forthcoming EU referendum debate. Can she confirm | :43:17. | :43:22. | |
that her department will do as much as possible to ensure that this | :43:23. | :43:27. | |
legislation is brought forward at the earliest opportunity and not | :43:28. | :43:33. | |
delayed for any external political reasons? I can give my friend those | :43:34. | :43:42. | |
reassurances. In all respects, the information he is working on is not | :43:43. | :43:45. | |
correct. There will be a number of measures that will be brought to. So | :43:46. | :43:50. | |
maybe attached to pieces of legislation and we are hoping to be | :43:51. | :43:55. | |
able to make announcements on this before local government kicks in. We | :43:56. | :44:04. | |
do not envision the point ground forces to Libya in a combat role. | :44:05. | :44:08. | |
The United Kingdom is considering with our partners have a and new | :44:09. | :44:14. | |
Libyan government. Lang to focus on capacity building and security | :44:15. | :44:17. | |
sector reform, but it's too early to say what form that support would | :44:18. | :44:21. | |
take. Before taking any military action in Libya, we would seek an | :44:22. | :44:26. | |
invitation on the new Libyan government. I thank him for that | :44:27. | :44:34. | |
response. I've disappointed to read the comments in the media stating | :44:35. | :44:38. | |
that he had authorised the use of UK bases for US air strikes. The matter | :44:39. | :44:43. | |
has not brought to the server in advance. And yesterday of papers, | :44:44. | :44:46. | |
the government is now also the point British advisers to Libya. Will he | :44:47. | :44:51. | |
commit to stopping this mission, and making sure that no further such | :44:52. | :44:57. | |
actions happen without comment to the house. And he explained whether | :44:58. | :45:00. | |
the action than it was lawful under UK standards, the use of force, and | :45:01. | :45:07. | |
human rights laws? The United States, follow standard procedures | :45:08. | :45:11. | |
and medical request to use our basis was we had desk-bound about | :45:12. | :45:19. | |
legality. I granted permission for them to use our basis to support. | :45:20. | :45:24. | |
They are trying to prevent the Daesh from using with the a base from | :45:25. | :45:28. | |
which to plan and carry out attacks that threaten the stability of Libya | :45:29. | :45:32. | |
and the region and potentially the United Kingdom and our people, too. | :45:33. | :45:37. | |
I was satisfied that the operation, which was a US operation, would be | :45:38. | :45:45. | |
connected on that international law. Could he set out what level of | :45:46. | :45:48. | |
military involvement in the government believes the British | :45:49. | :45:52. | |
military has to engage in in Libya, is for the diamonds that would bring | :45:53. | :45:54. | |
any decisions regarding military intervention to the house? Would | :45:55. | :46:05. | |
deny intent deploy ground forces in any combat role. -- we do not plan | :46:06. | :46:12. | |
to deploy. We would, of course, have to seek an invitation from the | :46:13. | :46:19. | |
government and what also involved this problem. We have, as part of | :46:20. | :46:26. | |
the international community, and we are ready to provide advice and | :46:27. | :46:30. | |
training and support of the new Libyan government. I can also form | :46:31. | :46:36. | |
the house that a shining team of some 20 troops on the fourth | :46:37. | :46:40. | |
industry grade is now moving to Tunisia to help counter illegal | :46:41. | :46:44. | |
cross-border movement from Libya and support of the Tunisian authorities. | :46:45. | :46:51. | |
Go to bed. A very sad and miserable away. So the last question. Their | :46:52. | :47:00. | |
words have been proactive in terms of submitting reports of civilian | :47:01. | :47:05. | |
casualties. We are grateful for the efforts. -- air war. Each case has | :47:06. | :47:09. | |
been reviewed, and has the demonstrated that visibly casualties | :47:10. | :47:12. | |
were not caused by UK activities. Our process are robust in the | :47:13. | :47:18. | |
respect than others. But I would welcome any other further ideas | :47:19. | :47:25. | |
about how they can add value. The department is now suing people to | :47:26. | :47:29. | |
discuss accurate civilian casualty numbers. I am most grateful to the | :47:30. | :47:34. | |
department if that is accurate. But will there were four that has been | :47:35. | :47:39. | |
in the department now, some about compensation for the families of | :47:40. | :47:43. | |
innocent victims of our bombing, will that report now be serviced? I | :47:44. | :47:55. | |
have committed to review any such reports of the visit that civilian | :47:56. | :48:01. | |
casualties. I have oversight at the whole process, including | :48:02. | :48:05. | |
compensation. If he has specific cases that he wishes to raise, | :48:06. | :48:14. | |
please do so. It is our operation against Daesh, which I reviewed | :48:15. | :48:18. | |
earlier this month. 40, international counterparts in | :48:19. | :48:23. | |
delivering our review commitments. To increase the size and power of | :48:24. | :48:26. | |
our Armed Forces, to keep this country safe. With the Russian | :48:27. | :48:34. | |
aggression that doesn't Daesh and growing cyber attack, can my right | :48:35. | :48:38. | |
honourable friend confirm that the government is committed to spending | :48:39. | :48:42. | |
2% of GDP every year, for this Parliament understands? And doesn't | :48:43. | :48:50. | |
the Honorable Lady data to match this commitment so that labor is a | :48:51. | :48:54. | |
risk to our security? That staggered to match. Questions must be about, I | :48:55. | :49:02. | |
appreciate the earnestness and commitment. Question must be about | :49:03. | :49:06. | |
government policy for which ministers are responsible. Order! Be | :49:07. | :49:13. | |
quiet. Ministers are responsible for government policy, not that of the | :49:14. | :49:18. | |
opposition. On the government's policy, he will not. | :49:19. | :49:25. | |
Can I confirm, that this government is committed to spending 2% of GDP | :49:26. | :49:30. | |
on defence every year of this Parliament. The defence budget will | :49:31. | :49:37. | |
rise by North .5% above inflation every year this decade. The | :49:38. | :49:40. | |
additional funding will be made available to the Armed Forces and | :49:41. | :49:42. | |
intelligence agencies through the joint security funding. We have the | :49:43. | :49:50. | |
largest defence budget and the European Union, and the | :49:51. | :49:52. | |
second-largest in Nato. This keeps us safe. We circulated without | :49:53. | :49:58. | |
delay, as all members of the Cabinet. I | :49:59. | :50:05. | |
continues to create serious health risk, including leading to the loss | :50:06. | :50:12. | |
of life in the Armed Forces. The Times higher in an civilian | :50:13. | :50:15. | |
population. It is now a year since the defence select committee | :50:16. | :50:19. | |
highlighted that the government strategy with the Armed Forces has | :50:20. | :50:23. | |
not made any noticeable difference. What steps is the Minister now | :50:24. | :50:27. | |
taking to set targets to manage alcohol consumption patterns and | :50:28. | :50:33. | |
address this serious issue? In the Army, under the new Army leadership | :50:34. | :50:36. | |
code, is taking steps to address this particular problem. I will | :50:37. | :50:41. | |
write to the lady with further details. Clinical Lab government | :50:42. | :50:51. | |
look at all the alternatives to our continuous. -- the old government. | :50:52. | :50:56. | |
None are the operative protection. Does he agree with a two former | :50:57. | :51:01. | |
lover defence secretaries, it is self-evident that a British nuclear | :51:02. | :51:05. | |
deterrent will be essential to our security for decades to come. -- | :51:06. | :51:13. | |
former labor costs. In 2013, the alternative review concluded. That | :51:14. | :51:17. | |
no system is a stable, or cost-effective at the current | :51:18. | :51:24. | |
database deterrent. There is no alternative, the part-time | :51:25. | :51:25. | |
deterrents are half-baked measures currently being suggested by some | :51:26. | :51:29. | |
members of the body opposite, could be exploited by our adversaries. And | :51:30. | :51:33. | |
to present a real danger to the safety and security the UK. Russian | :51:34. | :51:40. | |
bomber targets, civilians, Sarah, driver refugee crisis to the shores | :51:41. | :51:49. | |
of Europe. New -- Russia's Vegas to haul and short on the civilian | :51:50. | :51:55. | |
population to design was established in for the second quarter. -- | :51:56. | :51:59. | |
Russia's failure. That is why important that the cease-fire holds | :52:00. | :52:06. | |
and Russia returns to a more constructive part, and working with | :52:07. | :52:09. | |
us to get this terrible civil war ended. With the body of the | :52:10. | :52:15. | |
sophistication of cyber attacks gone so rapidly, and number of which are | :52:16. | :52:22. | |
sorted by the GHQ, what that survey taken to assure our rotting defence | :52:23. | :52:24. | |
budget actually translates to enhance sovereign capability in | :52:25. | :52:32. | |
cyber? I patiently to all of his constituents that worked there | :52:33. | :52:36. | |
protecting against cyber attacks. We have increased spending in this area | :52:37. | :52:44. | |
to 2.5 billion, and 80% of cyber attacks are able to be prevented by | :52:45. | :52:51. | |
answering the simple, straightforward to practice. A lot | :52:52. | :52:53. | |
of that investment will be going to protect British businesses and | :52:54. | :53:01. | |
private individuals in that respect. The SDSR in 2012,... 16 billion | :53:02. | :53:11. | |
allocated for nuclear submarines, some that has been massive cuts | :53:12. | :53:15. | |
elsewhere to support that. The that's a clever plan, which asked on | :53:16. | :53:21. | |
the subject is. Can the Minister then commit to providing for the | :53:22. | :53:25. | |
clarity of the changes that will affect... That is a bit of a | :53:26. | :53:35. | |
subject. We will be publishing the next annual alliteration and an | :53:36. | :53:41. | |
excellent with them straight there will be an addition of public and | :53:42. | :53:45. | |
bounds committed to spending on military equipment over the next ten | :53:46. | :53:51. | |
years. Cohabitation before he sees how that is allocated. It was in | :53:52. | :53:59. | |
December 2014, will the Secretary of State told this house that the legal | :54:00. | :54:07. | |
aid to Cave, should be reimbursed. Add this to do that it will be | :54:08. | :54:10. | |
reimbursed and given the timescales that I pass so far, when has he | :54:11. | :54:16. | |
think the money will be received? We are waiting the little ad agency | :54:17. | :54:20. | |
response to our request to revoke the legal aid award on the grounds | :54:21. | :54:25. | |
that it would not have been made in the first place, have the agency | :54:26. | :54:29. | |
been made aware of all relevant document dictation in the case. We | :54:30. | :54:33. | |
are waiting on that judgement but we believe it is imminent. Not content, | :54:34. | :54:42. | |
with comparing himself to our country's wartime leader, a Sevilla | :54:43. | :54:46. | |
the free world. This weekend, the Mayor of London compared his | :54:47. | :54:50. | |
opposition to the EU, to James Bond, taking on a sinister, supernational | :54:51. | :54:56. | |
organisation. Can ask the Secretary of State weather in all his dealings | :54:57. | :55:02. | |
with intelligence and security services, such as similarity has | :55:03. | :55:08. | |
ever occurred to him? I don't think it would be wise, and would not be | :55:09. | :55:12. | |
proper to discuss in the conversations I have had it with the | :55:13. | :55:14. | |
intelligence and security communities. | :55:15. | :55:21. | |
Can my friend confirm that would have to spend hundred million | :55:22. | :55:30. | |
pounds, and that the money is spent on iTunes and give give them the | :55:31. | :55:36. | |
best support in the equipment? I think he read of a good point. The | :55:37. | :55:41. | |
money that we are having to spend on a malicious allegations against him | :55:42. | :55:45. | |
forces will be better spent on equipment and training for them. I | :55:46. | :55:49. | |
can give some assurance that commercial, legal spending end of | :55:50. | :55:51. | |
the department is down at third on last year. In specific relation, the | :55:52. | :56:00. | |
amount spent, we are doing our what we can to assure that it works more | :56:01. | :56:04. | |
effectively and efficiently. I've had good conversations with the | :56:05. | :56:09. | |
Attorney General's Office. He'll be busy to them shortly. Given the | :56:10. | :56:14. | |
increasing double counting of this expenditure to the ODA and Nato | :56:15. | :56:18. | |
target, mechanisms such as the conflict security and stability | :56:19. | :56:22. | |
fund, with discussion has they had with the Chancellor about the | :56:23. | :56:27. | |
redefinition of always be? It is for the OED, development aid spending | :56:28. | :56:36. | |
and for Nato to classify what is acceptable as defence spending, | :56:37. | :56:37. | |
which will do Given the importance of our new | :56:38. | :56:50. | |
Google national security, can my honourable friend tell the House | :56:51. | :56:53. | |
would support the government has in this policy in this important area? | :56:54. | :57:01. | |
I have so far received conflicting representations on the future of our | :57:02. | :57:05. | |
nuclear deterrent. There are mainstream members of the party | :57:06. | :57:08. | |
opposite as there are right across this house who support us -- support | :57:09. | :57:14. | |
every previous government the nuclear church deterrent that has | :57:15. | :57:17. | |
kept discovering -- government say. Other parts of the party seemed to | :57:18. | :57:21. | |
think we can turn our nuclear sub greens into water taxis. Germany and | :57:22. | :57:29. | |
Sweden have stopped selling weapons to Saudi Arabia as a result of | :57:30. | :57:34. | |
concerns over Saudi Arabia and -- Saudi actions in Yemen. What about | :57:35. | :57:39. | |
the ban of arms sales to Saudi Arabia? All of our defence exports | :57:40. | :57:45. | |
to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia or any country goes through the same | :57:46. | :57:48. | |
rigorous export control system that we have in place which we are proud | :57:49. | :57:52. | |
of. It is more rigorous we believe than any other country. That will be | :57:53. | :57:56. | |
the case while this government is in power. I recently visited the | :57:57. | :58:03. | |
Marines on Arctic warfare training in Norway, my honourable friend is | :58:04. | :58:11. | |
and the honourable lady from their various constituencies. Will my | :58:12. | :58:15. | |
honourable friend join me in applauding one group, one of the | :58:16. | :58:22. | |
elite, forces in the world and explain how the strategic defence | :58:23. | :58:24. | |
and security review will be supporting more Marines. My | :58:25. | :58:30. | |
honourable friend is very brave to have joined the Royal Marines in the | :58:31. | :58:35. | |
Arctic. I pay tribute to her and her colleagues for doing so. We are | :58:36. | :58:40. | |
committed to maintaining fitness capability, we will be making | :58:41. | :58:44. | |
modifications to one of the two Queen Elizabeth carriers to ensure | :58:45. | :58:47. | |
that persists for the for suitable future and the life of that | :58:48. | :58:56. | |
platform. Under this prime minister, police personnel has dropped 340 | :58:57. | :59:03. | |
from 1482 1140. Police numbers have dropped 80 from 1700 to 1620 and | :59:04. | :59:08. | |
Royal Navy police numbers have dropped 40 from 342 300. Does the | :59:09. | :59:14. | |
Secretary of State think these cuts under the Prime Minister are | :59:15. | :59:20. | |
acceptable? The task that we allocate our personnel are there for | :59:21. | :59:25. | |
operational reasons. That is how we allocate, not only the liability of | :59:26. | :59:30. | |
each of our services but also the trades that sit within them. Along | :59:31. | :59:37. | |
with many of my colleagues I also talked during recess and had the | :59:38. | :59:41. | |
pleasure of visiting the fourth. They were concerned about the | :59:42. | :59:46. | |
economic point of view. From a national security point of view will | :59:47. | :59:50. | |
my right honourable friend confirm if government will always defend the | :59:51. | :59:54. | |
right to the Islanders to defend them I could determine their own | :59:55. | :00:01. | |
future? As I said earlier it was a pleasure to be the first defence | :00:02. | :00:04. | |
secretary to visit the island for over a decade to meet over the 1200 | :00:05. | :00:08. | |
service personnel who are based there and to confirm our investment | :00:09. | :00:14. | |
programme of 180 million over the next ten years. Unlike the Labour | :00:15. | :00:19. | |
Party, there is nobody who can be in any doubt about our commitment to | :00:20. | :00:23. | |
the right of the Islanders to determine their own future and not | :00:24. | :00:29. | |
have it bargained away by a possible labour government reaching some | :00:30. | :00:36. | |
accommodation with Argentina. My constituent Chris Hartley was | :00:37. | :00:40. | |
wounded while serving our arm versus in Syria by a rocket to know -- | :00:41. | :00:45. | |
rocket propelled grenade. He lost his right leg above the knee. He is | :00:46. | :00:49. | |
unable to get funding or in HS support for a life-changing | :00:50. | :00:52. | |
operation that would allow him to work and restore some of the pride | :00:53. | :00:56. | |
he had before his injury. Will you meet with the Department of health | :00:57. | :01:00. | |
and myself to discuss what can be done to help my constituency who | :01:01. | :01:04. | |
gave so much to this country? I would be delighted. Is it not the | :01:05. | :01:10. | |
case of the United Kingdom left European Union and it is more | :01:11. | :01:13. | |
rightly that France and Germany would dominate Europe's defence | :01:14. | :01:18. | |
structures. Meaning the median term over the horizon that we are more | :01:19. | :01:23. | |
likely to see European defence structures compete rather than | :01:24. | :01:28. | |
complement Nato? My honourable friend has made his views in this | :01:29. | :01:33. | |
great debate very clear. As I said to the House earlier, Nato is the | :01:34. | :01:39. | |
cornerstone of our security, the European Union compliments that with | :01:40. | :01:44. | |
a number of other levers and weapons at its disposal. Humanitarian, | :01:45. | :01:48. | |
diplomatic, and economic and there is no doubt in my mind that the | :01:49. | :01:54. | |
fracturing of either the alliance or the union would not aid the | :01:55. | :01:58. | |
collective security of the West. Have any embedded British pilots | :01:59. | :02:03. | |
flown in emissions at all into Libya? -- missions. No. Since the | :02:04. | :02:17. | |
parliamentary vote on Syria at the beginning of December, there have | :02:18. | :02:22. | |
been 319 RAF air strikes against Daesh in Iraq and 43 RAF air strikes | :02:23. | :02:28. | |
against Daesh and Syria. Since we have been targeting the head of the | :02:29. | :02:31. | |
snake, why have the bed and seven and a half times more air strikes in | :02:32. | :02:38. | |
Iraq? There are more I struck -- air strikes in Iraq and then Syria in | :02:39. | :02:42. | |
December and indeed January because we were engaged in assisting the | :02:43. | :02:47. | |
Iraqi forces liberate Ramani which is where most of the military action | :02:48. | :02:52. | |
was and assisting the Kurdish forces in the liberation of a city further | :02:53. | :02:59. | |
north. But as I discussed with my fellow ministers in Brussels, it is | :03:00. | :03:04. | |
also important to continue to attack the infrastructure that supports the | :03:05. | :03:09. | |
Daesh, including the oil wellheads from which it derives its revenue | :03:10. | :03:13. | |
and some of our strikes have been on those oil fields in eastern Syria. | :03:14. | :03:21. | |
Urgent question, Eva Cooper. To ask the home Secretary to make a | :03:22. | :03:23. | |
statement on child refugees in | :03:24. | :03:24. |