Live Defence Questions House of Commons

Good afternoon. Welcome to BBC parliament's live coverage of the

Commons. Theresa May will be updating MPs on the outcome of last

week's European Council summit meeting. The statement follows a row

over alleged leaked accounts of a dinner involving Jean-Claude

Juncker, the European Commission President, who was reported to have

said Theresa May begged for help to push forward the Brexit talks. There

is go be an emergency debate on the response of ministers in favour of a

pause on the rollout of universal credit. First debate today is on the

Government's automated and electrical vehicles bill. First it's

questions to the Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon.

We are unconditionally committed to European security and we will work

closely with our European partners to defend our shared values and to

confront shared threats. Our longstanding commitment to Nato

nuclear deterrents remains the ultimate guarantee of our security.

Thank you. I thank the Secretary of State for that answer. The UK is

leaving the EU and single market just when the EU is providing large

funds for corporation in procurement and RND. Will the Secretary of State

ensure that the UK defence industry will have continued access to EU

projects and to co-operation with European defence sector? That is

exactly what we will try to ensure as we subject out in that paper

published a few weeks ago. We want our defence companies to stay close

to the European defence agency and other collaborative programmes on

the continent and a number of them of course are in shared ownership

with other companies in Europe. My neighbouring constituency played a

key role in defence co-operation with the EU and non-EU allies.

However, in recent months there's been real concern with cuts creating

uncertainty of the future of the base and it's caused great concern

for many of my constituents and families who work and serve there.

Does the Secretary of State agree that this is not only sending

entirely the wrong message of our commitment to our allies, including

the European Union, will but will also strike at the heart of the

community who have a long history with this base. I visited the base

that he refers to and I want to reassure him that although we are

looking hard at the future use of the airfield there, the base will

not be affected by that and my honourable friend who has a direct

responsibility for basing matters is happy to talk to him in more detail.

Whether or not Britain is part of the European Union bilateral defence

co-operation with our allies is really important at any time. Would

the Secretary of State like to comment on the progress the

Lancaster House agreement which seems such a sensible arrangement to

have with the country with similar defence forces and similar world

view? I am grateful to my honourable friend. In the last few months I

have had meetings with my counterparts in Belgium, Cyprus and

Estonia, in France, Italy and Romania and I have received inward

visits from my counterparts from Croatia, Netherlands and Poland. The

Lang caster House framework is the most important of all our

relationships with other members of the European Union -- Lancaster. I

can assure my honourable friend that when the French Minister and I next

meet next month we will be looking to see how we take work under that

agreement further forward. Britain's had close working defence

relationships with all the European countries for decades before the EU

was even invented, for centuries before that with many of them. Will

the Secretary of State not agree with me that while of course we will

maintain close defence relationships with France and Germany and other

European countries, Brexit actually gives an opportunity to redevelop

some of our defence relationships around the world with the old

Commonwealth, United States of America and of course Nato. Brexit

of course gives us that opportunity to look again at our global role.

But I do have to say to my honourable friend that we currently

contribute to over a dozen common security and defence policy missions

and operations organised by the European Union and it's important

that where we can we continue to look from outside the European

Union, we continue to look and see how we can further contribute to

European security as well as to the global role that he and I agree. Our

defence industry needs certainty and stability from the Government so

that they can plan their operations appropriately. I am sure the

Secretary of State will agree with that. But the Government's dogged

insistence and dragging us out of the customs union and the single

market during the transition period I believe, and we believe, is having

the opposite effect. Is it not time that we put the interests of our

economy first including the defence sector, rather than the interests of

a minority of Tory backbenchers and retained our membership of the

single market and customs union for a time limited period as we leave

the EU? As we leave the European Union we have to leave the single

market and the customs union but the paper that we have published on

foreign policy and the foreign policy and defence partnership that

we seek after we have left the European Union makes it very clear

that we continue to seek the closest possible co-operation between our

defence industry and the defence industries of the continent. My

right honourable friend has already referred to global reach and given

that the United Kingdom probably has a greater capability there than any

other Armed Forces in Europe, is there not a sort of common

mutuality, a common feeling both with the Europeans and indeed with

the United Kingdom that we could co-operate in the future for our

mutual defence? Well, yes. Our 2015 strategic defence and security

review made it very clear that in future our defence posture is going

to be international by design, that we will increasingly be working more

closely with our friends and allies around the world and we saw evidence

of that co-operation in dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, for

example. The relationship with EU and non-EU allies is the work

carried out by the Royal Marines in northern Europe. The fears we have

heard elsewhere around the future of HMS Albion and B, lwark, key

components in the force are being felt not only on these shores just

as the decision was earlier this summer to cancel the vital winter

training in Norway. What assurances does he have today for allies in

northern Europe that these programmes are not in danger? We

work very closely with our northern European allies, not least through

the northern group and the joint expeditionary force that many of the

other northern countries are members of and the Royal Marines are a key

part of that co-operation. I am very grateful for what he said to my

honourable friend from Dundee in relation to the base. Can he perhaps

tell us more about the plans that he has for the airfield so that those

crucial partners in Europe know more about it as well as his

constituents? We are looking again at a large number of the airfields

that we have. We are not making full use of at the moment and seeing

whether those airfields can be released in a number of parts of

this country which would give us the opportunity for the new housing that

we need. The Royal Marine base at Condor is part of that review and I

have said that my honourable friend is responsible for basing is happy

to talk to him and to his colleague about the future development of that

airfield. My right honourable friend agree that members of this House we

all have a responsibility when it comes to speculation, we can

essentially speculate about anything but these are people's lives, these

are people's jobs and we should base our debate around facts and not a

political agenda? Well, I do agree with my honourable friend. There has

been - there has been quite enough speculation and scaremongering, not

least by members opposite. The national security advisor, because

the threats to our country have intensified since the 2015 review,

is conducting a specific capabilities review to make sure we

are implementing that review in the best possible way to give us the

impact that we need from our reequipment programme. Number two,

Mr Speaker. I have regular discussions with the Chancellor,

this Government is committed to spending at least 2% of GDP on

defence and committed to growing the defence budget by at least half a

percent above inflation every year of this parliament. The defence

budget will therefore rise from ?36 billion this year, to almost ?40

billion by 2020-21. Thank you. Would the Secretary of State agree that in

fact the inadequacy of current level of funding and uncertainty around

long-term investments that this generates has impacted the security

of jobs at BAE, including in my own constituency of Portsmouth South. If

members opposite were really concerned about BAE Systems jobs

they should get behind our export campaigns for typhoon and hawk

aircraft and not undermine them by criticising potential customs. I saw

the chairman of BA systems last week. I reassured him we want to

continue towork work with the company, I have emphasised the

importance of keeping production lines open should new orders

materialise. And to stay on track in developing for the arrival of F-35.

Does the Secretary of State recall that several years after we took the

peace dividend we were still spending 3% of GDP on defence in the

mid-1990s and can he assure us that no inadequacy in the defence budget

will lead to the loss of Her Majesty's ships Albion and Bulwark

which are scheduled to leave service in 2033 and 2034 as the defence

procurement Minister wrote to the defence committee only in January.

Well, on the latter point I referred to the purpose of the capabilities

review which is simply to make sure that the equipment programme we set

out in 2015 is on track and is spending our money in the best

possible way to deal with the threat that is have intensified since 2015.

On the first point so far as finance is concerned, the defence budget was

?34 billion when I became Defence Secretary. It's ?36 billion today.

It's going to reach ?40 billion by 2020. We have heard there's a

growing Tory rebellion over next month's budget with half the Cabinet

determined to sack the Chancellor because they're convinced they could

do a better job themselves. There is even speculation about the loyal

Defence Secretary, he may be about to launch his own offensive on

number 11. On a serious matter, we do know... We do know that most of

the Tory manifesto has already bitten the dust and so I was pleased

to note that he seemed to be very confident about a commitment to a 0.

5% year on year increase. Can he give us categoric assurances there

will be no fiddling the figures as we have seen with the 2% commitment

on GDP. On her first point I am not sure if

that was speculation for scaremongering but it is good indeed

to hear from her after she was gagged at the Labour Party

conference and not given any kind of slot. Let me reassure her that our

manifesto commitment to increasing the budget by at least nor Budvar

percent ahead of inflation is an absolute commitment -- 0.5%. As as

what is classified as 2% spending for the purposes of the Nato but

that is a matter for Nato to decide. The reality is that this

government's chaotic mismanagement had led to gaping holes in the MoD

budget and there is a real concern about cuts to our amphibious

capability as we have already heard. Can the Defence Secretary say

categorically there will be absolutely no cuts to the Royal

Marines? The Royal Marines are part of the Royal Navy. With the latest

submarine Audacious launched in the spring and the steel cut on our

latest frigate in July and the sailing at Queen Elizabeth and the

naming of Prince of Wales and HMS Medway and HMS fourth, nobody should

be in any doubt that this year has seen the Royal Navy growing in power

and in numbers. Thank you for the opportunity to ask the secretary of

state a brief question, as we hear about defence budget being discussed

would it not be worth focusing also on what the Armed Forces achieved

for the United Kingdom? Through their soft influence to that ship

with it and training establishment, are they not fundamentally part of a

foreign honesty and integrated defence? Absolutely and smart and

soft power is important to us as hard power which is why it is our

ambition on this side of the house to continue to grow the defence

budget and the power and impact of our forces. I note that the

honourable gentleman appears to be powered by wires. If he is subject

to some sort of exterior propulsion might be setting a precedent for

chairs of select committees. His attire will be closely followed in

the future! Number three, Mr Speaker. Minister. With permission I

would like to answer questions three and 17 together. Since Saints are 15

we have cut still on the first type 26 and signed a contract by new

Apache helicopters. We are on track to deliver by the end of 2020

initial operating capability for carrier strike, maritime patrol

aircraft and Ajax. We launched our innovation initiative and published

our shipbuilding and international brand engagement strategies. HMS

bulwark helped evacuate 3000 British citizens from Lebanon in the 2006

crisis. Given the recent problems the Foreign Office had evacuating

citizens from Hurricane Irma, with the argue for his department to lead

on future evacuations and the warranty to maintain the capacity of

the fleet provided by HMS Bulwark and Albion? I think one of the

strengths of this government is how we successfully work together

between departments and we saw the Conran to approach working

effectively in recent weeks that matter the comprehensive approach.

That is the post we should be taking. SDSR aim for at least 10% of

Armed Forces personnel to come from IBM BMA -- BME background and are

currently none into stomach or above. When will ministers publish a

new diversity strategy to get to grips with this? The honourable

gentleman is right that Britain is changing and it is important that

our Armed Forces represent modern Britain. There is an impressive

strategy in place at the moment and the target is for 10% of the BAME

divinity to beat recruit an equally 15% women. We have had varying

success on the fourth of the oil ever was doing the best by far the

year on year we are seeing improvements -- the Royal Air Force.

By 2020 the commitments set out in SDSR 2015 will be funded by a

defence budget totalling a record ?40 million. The government's

welcome commitment to spending 2% of our economy on defence is the

minimum Nato requirement. The commitment, is it rubbing off on our

fellow Nato counterparts? My honourable friend makes a powerful

point and we are committed to spending at least 2% and I'm

delighted we continue to do that. Slowly but surely we are getting the

message across to our allies and whilst only a minority of them do

spend 2% we are conscious that the direction of travel is positive.

Number four, Mr Speaker. With permission Mrs B Dyer would like to

answer a question for together with question 16. -- Mr Speaker. We

published our shipbuilding strategy in September and then launched a

strategy for new guide 31 frigate and we are proposing at least 20

different proposal from industry across the UK. It is fantastic news

that the national shipbuilding strategy can benefit the whole UK.

Cornwall has a proud history with the sea and HMS Corbel was

decommissioned in 2011 so, urge my right honourable friend to dig a bid

from Cornwall to put Cornwall back on the waves? My honourable friend

is a champion for his county and he will be aware that in the type 26

frigates we have started announcing the names HMS Glasgow, HMS Belfast

and there will be further names announced in due course. The type 31

T frigate will be named by the Royal Navy committee and my honourable

friend had set out his claim today. The strategy announced by the

Secretary of State will provide many opportunities for the supply chain

including companies such as GE energy in my constituency who are

working on the first batch of the type 26, the global combat ship. I

wondered if she could say the timetable for the second batch of

vessels? I think my honourable friend highlights the importance of

the supply chain across the UK and the fact that in a relatively

landlocked part of the country so much work is pouring in from the

frigate programme. We announced the ?3.7 billion first batch of type 26

frigates and we will be securing the necessary approvals to carry on with

the negotiations for that contract and announce the second batch early

in 2020. Despite the challenge of the UK steam industry at the

offshore patrol vessels used by the Royal Navy are being that by foreign

steel. Can the Minister the assurance that British steel will be

put first when building new vessels? I'm delighted to let the house note

that in fact on the first of the industry days we held for the type

31 E frigates, UK still came along and were represented and so to

ensure they got involved at that early stage give them the best

chance of winning these competitions. Given the comments

from trade unions on the Clyde who are suggesting that promises made to

them had been broken by the Ministry of Defence, how does the Minister

respond and will the government change it is a logical decision to

put three fleets aboard ships to international competition? Should

they not be built in the UK? Honestly every time I come and talk

about our wonderful programme of shipbuilding in the UK I hear

nothing but doom and gloom from our friends on the Scottish Nationalists

ventures when in fact there are currently and no one would believe

this, currently 15 ships being built in Scotland including the second of

the two new aircraft carriers, two decades worth of work on the frigate

programme, five new offshore patrol vessels and frankly I don't know

what I can do to keep these gentlemen and ladies happy. Number

five, Mr Speaker. We are making significant progress in Syria, Raqqa

was freed from the control of diet on Friday, in Iraq Mosul was

liberated in July. Aria strikes will continue against terrorist target

until they have been defeated in both Iraq and Syria and only by

pursuing this campaign can we help reduce the terrorist threat to us

here in Europe. As coalition forces destroy and degrade Daesh stronghold

in Syria and across the Middle East this campaign will clearly evolve

and there are also reports of Daesh activity in Libya. What plans does

the Secretary of State had to ensure that where Daesh are defeated in one

area they do not have a research in another? I'm grateful to my

honourable friend, we are working with the international coalition and

will be meeting as defence ministers in a few weeks in Brussels to ensure

there is no emergence of Daesh in Libya or other countries. As far as

Libya itself is concerned we are supporting the UN plan under the

special representative of the Secretary General. When the then

Prime Minister asked this house to approve air strikes in November

2015, he described Raqqa as the head of the snake. Now that the snake had

apparently been beheaded, how long would he envisage the RAF staying in

the region? And why on earth after three opportunities had this has not

brought a statement to the house about this very major development?

There are regular reports to this house by myself, the Foreign

Secretary and the International Development Secretary in a cycle of

reporting and updating on the campaign in Iraq and Syria and I

briefed members of Parliament and I think he was present at the Ministry

last week. To move on to the campaign, it is now changing

following the liberation of Raqqa and Mosul. British forces will be

training further forward and providing appropriate force

protection for our personnel in and around coalition bases. I have also

authorised the deployment of additional medical personnel to the

airbase and I have extended the deployment of British engineers

there a further six months. This question is a start but there may be

a statement by one means or another in this chamber for very long. I was

in Kurdistan for the recent referendum and that the privilege of

meeting troops for the second Mercian Regiment who are training

the Peshmerga in the fight against Daesh and I was very impressed with

what I saw but given the Secretary of State's positive and welcome

assessment of the campaign, what next for our Armed Forces in the

fight against Daesh? What is important is that we keep up the

fight against Daesh until it has been pushed in Iraq right up to the

Syrian border and defeated there and that we then begin the process of

stabilisation and reconciliation in the provinces in the area to ensure

that all those Shia and Sunni realise they have a stake in the

future security of Iraq. We on these benches have long called for an

operation service medal for personnel on operation shader and we

welcome its announcement last month and the secondary has an much that

the changing nature of war that means changing the criteria of how

we award medals so we can you tell me if he has any plans to review

this process and when that might be published? I'm grateful to the

honourable gentleman for his welcome for an operation medal which we hope

to start issuing next year which rightly recognises the contribution

over three years now made by our service men and women in this very

important campaign against the evil of our time. I have commented

already publicly on the current criteria that require both risk and

rigour to be undergone before service personnel is eligible for a

medal and the nature of warfare is changing so we are looking again at

those criteria. One of the consequences of the success of the

operations against Daesh has been in the dispersal of many of their

volunteers including UK citizens. Yesterday the honourable member for

Penrith and border, the Minister of State for the Foreign Office and for

David said that as far as UK citizens were concerned who had

served in Isis, the only thing to do with one or two exceptions was to

kill them. If that is now government policy?

We have made clear that those who travel to fight with Daesh in Iraq

or Syria will have been committing a criminal offence, Daesh is a

proscribed organisation and we have to make sure if they ever do return

from Iraq and Syria they do not pose a future threat to our national

security but they have made their choice. They have chosen to fight

for an organisation that uses terror and the murder of civilians as a

modus operandi. Number six, Mr Speaker. With permission, I should

like to answer question six and 11 together. We are committed to

maintaining the overall size of the Armed Forces including an Army that

is able to fill a war fighting division. Whilst Army recruitment

and retention remains challenging over 8,000 people joined the regular

Army last year and since April applications are over 20% higher

compared to the same period last year. I thank the Minister for that

answer but I would like to ask him to recall the year I was born, 1989

the regular arm strength was 140,000. When I joined the

territorials, 102,000. In recent years we have seen the Army fall

below a regular strength of 82,000. Including a 40% in armoured strength

of the Army. Would the Minister not accept this is an unacceptable

degradation of strength. No, I don't. It's important to note that

the Army is currently 95% manned. I accept there are challenges. Having

probably the highest employment rate we have had in recent years doesn't

help when it comes to recruiting the Army or we discussed earlier the

changing nature of Britain and having to fight harder to make sure

all parts of society will join the Army. It's also about the offer. I

must say that when the leader of the opposition says he can not see a

situation when he would deploy the Army overseas that's hardly a good

recruiting tool for people who want to join the Army to do exactly that.

The latest figures show that the Army is running at 6% under the

number of personnel needed with a gap growing. How understaffed do we

need to be before the Secretary of State will put pressure on the

Chancellor to lift the 1% pay cap in order to boost recruitment? Well,

the Army is 95% recruited and quite capable of fulfilling all of its

commitments. I am pleased there will be some flexibility in how we apply

that pay of course we have the Armied forces Pay Review Body which

set that but it's important to have some flexibility so that we can

attract people into the skill sets that we are currently short of. Can

my right honourable friend confirm or deny if there is any truth in the

current media speculation that the UK Armed Forces are about to bes as

sooned into a European defence force to placate the European Union? No, I

think I can absolutely scupper that one, thank you. Dz my right

honourable friend agree that Yeovil's multirole wild cat

helicopters ably support and protect our Army units and could be upgraded

with missiles even better to support more focussed strike brigades? Well

of course these are just some of the questions which we are currently

considering under the national security capability review which is

ongoing. The purpose of that review really is to decide how best that we

can use the money that we are investing in our armed forces to

maximise that capability. On the basis of the Minister's first

answer, can he guarantee that the Army strength will not drop below

80,000? We continue to work very hard to ensure that we do have new

recruits coming. As I say the news this year is positive. We have over

8,000 which is up some 20% on last year. Question number seven. HMS

Queen Elizabeth sailed in June to commence sea trials. The second set

of sea trials should begin this week weather-permitting. She remains on

track to be accepted into the Royal Navy this year. Will my honourable

friend confirm that as well as projecting global Britain's power

for the next five tee years, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of

Wales will be providing long-term skilled job opportunities and

training for people in Portsmouth and in neighbouring constituencies

like mine in Fareham? Well, my honourable friend is absolutely

right to point out it's not just the 10,000 people who worked on getting

her to the point where it is now the long-term sustainment over the next

50 years and can I take this opportunity to put on record my

appreciation to the Fareham company Westminster limited which did a lot

of the dredging of Portsmouth harbour. Can the Minister update the

House on what's happening with respect to ordering of the aircraft

for the aircraft carrier, it would be handy to have an update. I am

pleased to be able to update the honourable gentleman on that because

as he will know we already have 12 of these aircraft and they are

already flying in the US. We will have 14 by the end of the year. Next

year we are on track to stand up the first squadron in the UK and I am

pleased last week I was able to announce that the F-35 has

successfully completed the trials on the ski jump in the US and is clear

to land on the carrier. Question number eight. Following the

recession there has been a requirement for fiscal

responsibility to manage the deficit but today we need to balance out

protecting jobs in the public sector, being fair to public sector

workers and of course being fair to taxpayers who pay for it. Pay rates

are recommended by the independent Armed Forces Pay Review Body and we

look forward to receiving their next set of recommendations for

2018-2019. I thank the Minister for his answer. The Government is fond

of saying they value our Armed Forces personnel. Yet back in June

every Minister and every Cabinet member, including the Defence

Secretary himself, voted against lifting the public sector pay cap

for our Armed Forces. Isn't this proof that their commitment to our

brave men and women is only skin deep? Well, the opposition does have

a habit of actually spending money it doesn't have. We need to take

things into consideration, much as we would like to move forward with

breaking the 1% pay cap, we have to bear in mind when it comes to the

Armed Forces the review also takes into consideration the progressive

pay, subsidised accommodation, a range of allowances, including the

factor as well as the basic salary that remains competitive and also

bearing in mind comparisons with the private sector as well. This is

exactly what the Armed Forces Pay Review Body does and it's for them

to make their decisions and we look forward to that. Did I hear the

Minister talking about the X Factor? This may require elaboration for

some colleagues I think. Never mind. Well, in spite of increases in

accommodation costs and cuts to tax credits the Government has slashed

the starting pay of an Army private by over is,000 in real terms. This

is no way to treat our Royal Armed Forces and will do nothing to

resolve the crisis in recruitment and retention. I am asking the

Government to change priorities, stop thinking about that ?2. 5

billion tax giveway they're giving to big companies and the wealthy and

now actually commit to freeing up the arm forces Pay Review Body so

they're not convained by the pay cap and allow them to give a proper pay

rise to Armed Forces personnel. I am not sure where the honourable lady

has been, there is now that flexibility, it's been removed.

There is no longer pressure to remain in that 1%. I wish her

enthusiasm for the Armed Forces would rub off on the leader of the

opposition. Who has no support or respect for the Armed Forces or Nato

and wants to get rid of our nuclear deterrent. Number 12. We must

recognise historically that mental health has not received the same

attention as physical well-being. I am pleased that in July we published

our new mental health and well-being strategy that comprehensively

addresses this and I hope will lead to a cultural change in challenging

the stigma and providing improving mental fitness of Armed Forces

personnel and their families. I am grateful to the Minister for those

comments. Does he agree with me that it is important that we provide

better treatment for our veterans, but also that it is very important

that the public appreciates that the vast majority of veterans who leave

the Armed Forces do so being all the better for having served, rather

than being seen as damaged individuals? My honourable friend

makes such an important point because all of this House I think

respects and reveres our Armed Forces but we need to bury this myth

somehow if you joined Armed Forces you will be more likely to have

mental health problems and to commit suicide than the general population

and this is not the case. Absolutely not the case. We have 2. 5 billion

veterans in this country, 15,000 leave every single year. 90% of them

actually get into jobs or education within six months. Of course some of

them through no fault of their own do require support and we need to

make sure we provide that. Veterans have done their duty and we must

ensure that we do ours by them. Can the Minister say a few words about

what extra steps are being taken by the Armed Forces covenant and the

veterans board to address this critical issue. Well, I am pleased

to say this was a manifesto commitment. We need to recognise

that it isn't just the MoD that looks after veterans' interests but

it's across Whitehall and the Secretary of State will be chairing

the first meeting of that on Thursday. He asked about the

covenant, this is absolutely important. It is in its infancy but

it encourages businesses to employ veterans, it encourages businesses

to actually allow members of the reservists to go on training and of

course it also provides deals that the Armed Forces regular members can

have as well. The veterans welfare services is committed to enhancing

the quality of life for veterans and its main objective is sufficient

delivery of core services. My constituent Scott gar flee has had a

different experience. The loves of his national insurance payments

records. Will the Minister meet to discuss these matters with my

constituent? I make it clear to any honourable

member if they have a situation such as this I would be more than

delighted to make sure that we understand what support can be

provided because that is the duty of this House, that is the do you

wantive of the nation and the MoD as well. It can be confusing as to know

which way to turn. There are 450 charities out there. The veterans

gateway programme provides that support. That was launched this

July. I am more than delighted to meet with the honourable gentleman.

The honourable gentleman has a look of statesman-like gravity on his

face. I am keen to know the source. I am very worried about the

complacency of the answers we have had from the Minister. Why is it

that crisis and so many other charities working with homeless

people, people sleeping rough, find a huge percentage of the people they

find are ex-military personnel. What are we doing about it? Well, I am

not sure again, example of the myth that we need to bust. Can I pay

tribute to the local authorities and indeed the charities who are doing

their work. Where we are failing, if we are failing, is not communicate

where that support for brave veterans is and that's something

that we all need to work towards. Number 13, please. The tremendous

work of RAF #1k57 mounts Bay last month in the Caribbean demonstrated

versatility of ships in the Royal Navy. It did indeed. But people in

County Durham will be very alarmed there appears to be a question mark

over the future of HMSBulwark, she is one of the newest amphibious

ships, she was's been the fleet flagship. She's been used to rescue

migrants in the Mediterranean. Surely a decision to decommission

her early would be a false economy. I too have read the speculation in

the press and it is just that. As we already discussed at defence

questions today, there is a national security and capability review, it's

very important we have that view. It's about trying to bring together

a capability with our investment and equally the honourable lady would

recognise while that review is ongoing it would be entirely

inappropriate for me to pluck out individual capabilities and comment

on them. I see the Minister of State is enjoying the benefit of family

encouragement, this is something we enthusiastically welcome. In

welcoming The Assurance the future of amphibious capability is under

active and positive consideration, can I say as one who has been

privileged to spend a little bit of time on HMS Bulwark, she is a

magnificent fighting ship, has served this nation very well and to

remove her from service would be a tragedy. I recognise my honourable

friend's support and indeed the support of colleagues from across

this House who feel strongly on this matter. We do enjoy amphibious

capability, it's not just Albion and Bulwark. Albion is about to step up

into the high readiness role for the next five years and Bulwark will be

going to the lower role. We will be investing into amphibious capability

for the QE class, as well. As the member of parliament that represents

the dockyard Naval base where they are based, can I ask the Minister to

speed up this review because there are lots of people that are very

concerned about their jobs and local economy if Albion and Bulwark and

the Royal Marines are to be scrapped.

Once again he seems to be unnecessarily adding fuel to the

spec collision and perhaps even scaremongering to his own

constituents which I don't think it's valuable. What I will say is

that the review will be completed in a timely manner but it is important

to get it right. Will my honourable friend commit that in taking

decisions about our amphibious capability and other issues that he

will always be guided by military advice as to what capabilities we

need? That is a very fair point and at the moment there has been no

advice put on the Minister's desk as to where the outcome of this review

is going but it will be based firmly on military advice. Number 15. The

MoD hold personnel information on former Armed Forces personnel for

lawful defence and security purposes. Information is held if the

individual is receiving an occupational pension or made a claim

for compensation or wet welfare assistant is being provided. The MOD

is determined to ensure that veterans who need help are provided

with appropriate support through the whole help -- the helpline, website

and the welfare service and better and information service. The help

has not been available to my constituent Mr Job with Parma -- Mr

Joseph Palmer. He served as a regular in the Army the 60s and in

Afghanistan. The only place which hold his record is the MOD because

the immigration and visa service has lost his details and documents. Will

the Minister work with me so that my constituent can remain in the UK and

work in the UK? I would be delighted to meet the honourable lady and

discuss this case. Could I ask the Minister if he can assure me that

medical records of former personnel are accurately passed to general

practitioners. It is a long time ago now but mine were not and there was

no record of me being badly hurt and spending six months in hospital and

my GP was amazed. Again, my honourable friend makes a valuable

point and it is important we get these things right as veterans

require, those who have served in the Armed Forces the particle or we

have to make sure we provide the service they deserve. -- depart. One

of the ways in which the Minister can ensure that information is

secure is in terms of the National sentence and the owners said that

former armed services personnel should be included new question and

so what would his response be to ONS decision? I would be delighted to

say that I'm very much supportive of this, the more information we have

in understanding who our veterans are and whether that is through a

veterans ID card or on changing the driving licence so there is a symbol

on there to show you are a veteran, or indeed on GP records, it is all

supportive of the veterans and that is the direction of travel we should

go. Number 18. Leaving the EU should not affect our

defence spending, our commitment to European security will continue when

we leave and we are committed to meeting Nato guidelines of spending

at least 2% of GDP on defence and to increase the defence budget by at

least 0.5% above inflation every year of this parliament which will

enable us to deliver smarter, stronger defence in the face of

intensifying threats. With the uncertainty surrounding Brexit from

the pound in freefall, what action as the secretary of state

Twitterverse costs are kept under control for future equipment which

would be paid for in US dollars like the effort he fired and the Apache

helicopter? Like any organisation we take precautions against movements

in the currency and we continue to ensure that we get the best value

for money from any part of our equipment programme. Topical

questions. Number one, Mr Speaker. This government has a strong record

of supporting our Armed Forces and delivering a growing defence budget.

Since July we have led the response to Hurricane Irma, we have published

a new national shipbuilding strategy, supported the defeat of

Daesh in Raqqa and continued to lead in Nato. I would like to

congratulate all those service personnel and veterans who competed

so well in the recent Invictus Games. Growing the supply of

engineers is one of the ways the government can support both the

Armed Forces and defence industry so can he tell the house what action

his department is taking to support next year's year of engineering to

ensure we inspire the next generation of engineers? We recruit,

train and employ more than 55,000 engineers and we will be working as

a partner with the Department for Transport on their year of

engineering initiative and each of the single services will play a role

in promoting that initiative through stem outreach helping to deliver a

bright future for engineering in the UK. Given the announcement of nearly

2000 job losses at BAE Systems, to maintain industrial capacity will

the government bring forward its order for new Hawk aircraft for the

Red Arrows? Can I use this opportunity to put on record what a

wonderful job the Red Arrows do for the UK around the world and

congratulate them on that successful 11 country tour which they have just

returned from. He will know that this is an important training

aircraft for the RAF and we have 75 of them and we expect them to

continue to last until 2030 and we are pursuing a range of export

opportunities around the world. Would my right honourable friend

confirmed that commitment of the government to Nato and the

collective defence of its members which has kept the peace for over 70

years and would he condemn those who would withdraw from Nato and abandon

our allies? Nato is the cornerstone of our defence and we are leading

the battle group in Estonia, we have sent troops to Poland, RAF Typhoons

to Romania. By contrast, the Leader of the Opposition does not support

collective defence and Young Labour has just voted to withdraw from

Nato. Can the Secretary of State give us an up-to-date report on the

implementation of the Armed Forces covenant bearing in mind it was a

Labour government in the first place that introduced it? As I mentioned

earlier the covenant is very important, it is that bond between

the nation and our Armed Forces to make sure they are looked after, not

disenfranchised. It is in its infancy and we have to recognise it

has to go a long way. We look at how the United States in their practical

measures look after its veterans, this is no different but practically

we have a long way to go to make sure we give the veterans the

respect they deserve. Could I ask if the government plans to provide

midlife upgrades to the tycoon and Chinook? -- Typhoon. We will create

two additional front line squadrons from our existing fleet and extend

Typhoon in service until 2040. They're capable of you are

constantly evolving through initiatives like Project Centurion

and we will be upgrading our Chinook helicopter to ensure it can also

extend its life until the 20 40s. The government's invention to come

out of the single market and the customs union will affect the

complex supply chains for defence procurement. Has the Minister made a

full assessment of the implications of Brexit for defence procurement

taking into account these complex supply change? -- chains. There is

an extensive programme of work under way not only in the MOD itself but

also with our colleagues in the Department for exiting in the

European Union and the contest of the importance of those supply

chains. Given the concern on both sides of the house about the

prosecution of Northern Ireland veterans up to 40 years after

incidents occurred for which no new evidence is available, what with the

Secretary of State's reaction be to an approach from perhaps the main

opposition party to see if some form of consensus could be agreed on how

to prevent this happening? There is broad agreement within Northern

Ireland that the current systems and structures for dealing with the

legacy of the troubles are not delivering enough for victims,

survivors and wider society. We are working with the Northern Ireland

Office to make sure that investigations are fair and focus on

terrorists and not the personnel who kept us safe but of course we think

there should be further discussions and we would welcome such

discussions. There is no bar on a second question if the mood takes

you! Repetition in this place is not an uncommon phenomenon! I will try

to avoid that! Is the Minister aware that national insurance records are

failing to be handed over to the veterans groups so that veterans

cannot be identified when they are making applications and regard to

benefits? I was not directly aware of that I meet with charities every

week and it is something I will raise and it goes back to the point

of making sure the veterans get the support they deserve but if he would

like to write to me with more detail I would be grateful to receive his

letter. Will my right honourable friend join me in commending those

members of the Armed Forces who provided such brilliant support to

those who were suffering at the hands of Hurricane Irma and set out

for the house what different those efforts have made? I am sure my

honourable friend speaks for the whole house and the military

response to Hurricane Irma was swift, are mounts Bay was

pre-positioned and at its peak we had almost 2000 troops on both

islands who were deployed very quickly and managed to get aid

through using the copters to areas which would not have received it had

it not been for the military intervention and I take this

opportunity on the half of the whole house to thank them for their

efforts. Can the ministers confirmed to the house when the outcomes of

the Armed Forces compensation scheme will be published? As nobody is

getting up I will jump to my feet! I look forward to presenting the Armed

Forces Project review in the near future. Five ships of the Royal Navy

had been named after Devon's county capital HMS Exeter, the first in

1680, so would he not agree with me that it would be entirely

appropriate if one of the new frigates continued in that great

tradition? Again my right honourable friend makes a compelling case, as

are many other colleagues from all parts of the house for HMS Exeter

and I am sure he would welcome the fact that HMS Tema is currently in

billed as a offshore patrol vessel. It must be in the national interest

to retain domestic military aircraft manufacturing capabilities if the

government does not bring forward the replacement for the arrows, how

will they guarantee that domestic Kebede the well military orders are

secured for the long term at BAe given the current shortage of those

orders -- -- capacity. He makes an important point because we have such

strong leadership in this area but what I would say to the honourable

gentleman is this, that it is also important we show cross-party

support for the many export campaigns that BAE Systems are

involved with around the world and I urge him to do what he can with his

leader and front bench to do that. Given that the tycoon is scheduled

to leave service in 2040, can I ask what is that she is taken to procure

the next generation of fighter aircraft given the potential

opportunities for export and to preserve and maintain our sovereign

defence capabilities? Again a very important statement of the support

we're giving to Typhoon export around the world and I was delighted

my right honourable friend the Secretary of State was able to sign

a statement of intent with Qatar recently and we will continue that

effort, as well as considering what our options are in terms of work on

a replacement. The Secretary of State was most welcome to my

constituency for weeks ago bid to name a ship that was built in

Glasgow. Can I ask the Secretary of State when he intends to visit

Glasgow to announce some naval shipbuilding in Belfast? I hope the

honourable member shared my pride in restoring the name HMS Belfast again

to a warship and I will certainly bear his suggestion in mind next

time I am in Glasgow. My constituent has just returned to Newark after

fighting with the Kurdish Peshmerga and helping to defeat IS in Syria

and northern Iraq and is one of hundreds of British citizens have

done the same so would the Defence Secretary note the contribution and

bravery of these British citizens but also strongly dislike that young

people from this extremely dangerous course in the future? I certainly

note that and I would advise any British citizen intending or wanting

to go to fight against Daesh Isis, the way to do that is to join our

Armed Forces and get the professional training that is

necessary and the respect for international humanitarian law that

goes with it. It's 30 years since HMS Sheffield

was sunk in the Falklands war. My constituents believe that it's about

time the city should have another Royal Navy ship named after our

great city. So will the Secretary of State ensure that the committee

gives full consideration to making sure we can enjoy the third HMS

Sheffield? The honourable lady makes a very poignant appeal for another

ship to be named HMS Sheffield. I am sure that her representations will

have been heard by the revanity committee and I am so pleased that

we have so many new ships that we are building in this country that we

can have all these new names. Engineers at BAE in Chelmsford were

critical in developing the Samsung multifunctional radar, the sea wolf

missile tracking radar and the highly innovative T-9942 dimensional

radar. When it comes to the next generation, the ballistic missile

defence radar, will the MoD take into consideration employment as

well as capability and make sure these skills stay in Britain? My

honourable friend will be pleased to know that we don't need to

distinguish between the two things because the radars that are made by

BAE Systems are unrivalled around the world. Whilst agreeing with what

the Secretary of State said about Daesh, he will know that one of the

things that separates them from us is that we are bound by the rule of

law. Specifically, by rules of engagement. Can the Secretary of

State take the opportunity today to confirm that our conduct will always

be bound by the Geneva convention? Absolutely. That is one of the

things that distinguishes our Armed Forces from the way in which Daesh

has unscrupulously used civilians to prosecute their particular case. We

should hear from a member of the Select Committee. Thank you. The

Secretary of State's own permanent Secretary said last Tuesday at the

defence Select Committee on the subject of the F-35 programme, we

will not be in a position to be able to give a precise view as to the

whole of this very complicated programme, until 2035. Does that not

put paid to the Secretary of State's incredible claim that eight type 26

will employ work until 253? What I would say, put paid to is, it puts

paid to anyone who thinks that you can forecast a budget out for two

decades and get it down with pinpoint certainty, something that I

know the Scottish Government might also find difficult. Order. Point of

order. Exceptionally, I will take this point of order now. I think

it's occupants of the Treasury bench should hear it. Point of order.

Thank you. It's now more than four months since the general election

but still the liaison committee