Defence and Security Review (NATO)

That is an invitation to go into exactly this theme: in terms of responses to the Russian convent...

I accept my hon. Friend’s Committee’s recommendation that as a minimum we have to spend 2% of GDP...

That is a very good question, which I hope to be able to deal with towards the end of my speech. ...

I apologise for coming in late. About 30 years ago, when Denis Healey, as Defence Secretary, look...

The hon. Gentleman rightly says that we have not been focused on Russia, and the United States ce...

On that point about capacity, it is interesting to note that in 1989 there were 5,000 US battle t...

That is a significant point. It is true that, ultimately, the theoretical NATO capacity dwarfs th...

The hon. Gentleman referred to Estonia. Clearly, under article 5 of the NATO treaty all the other...

The hybrid attacks are exactly what I was getting on to: the asymmetric and next-generation warfa...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way. The Defence Committee, which completed its report on d...

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to raise that point about cyber-attacks. Crucially, very f...

I agree with everything my hon. Friend has said, particularly with regard to the importance of cy...

That is very important. The thing about cyber-defence that is difficult for us as a Committee to ...

My hon. Friend is quite rightly focusing on the clear and present threat of Russia, but when look...

That provides me with a good way to drive towards a conclusion. As my hon. Friend has just pointe...

I do not want the Chair of the Select Committee to ignore one part of the world. With regard to a...

That is a very significant question. It is definitely worth thinking about in the next SDSR. As t...

The figure of 2% is just a number that has been dragged out of the air, but it happens to be the ...

I am very supportive of the idea that we should be spending even more.

So am I, if I may say so. My hon. Friend is giving an excellent analysis of the situation. At the...

To come to a conclusion, I am giving the four reasons why we need to spend 2%. The first, which h...

The Chairman of the Select Committee is giving a fantastic analysis of the situation. May I add m...

That is the second point that I was coming to. The second reason why we have to spend 2% of GDP o...

Is it not also the case that the rigour of the SDSR process needs to do justice to the nature of ...

The process will be led—must be led—by the SDSR. The entire problem that we face starts with the ...

Perhaps I should start by looking at the Order Paper. We are being asked tonight to approve for t...

Given my hon. Friend’s extremely important work in the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, does he think...

I would always like greater attention to be given to the Parliamentary Assembly’s work, but there...

In his last few words, the hon. Gentleman said something that contradicted my memory of events. T...

I have had an interesting conversation with the statisticians in the House of Commons Library thi...

I strongly agree with the hon. Gentleman’s powerful endorsement of the Prime Minister’s commitmen...

Yes, of course I have had that conversation—

Order. I am going to have to put a time limit on speeches, because we are drifting, and it was su...

I will crack on quickly, Mr Deputy Speaker.

I have put my name to the early-day motion draf...

rose—

Order. The time limit is nine minutes.

7.31 pm

May I start by warmly congratulating the Chair of the Defence Committee, my hon. Friend the Membe...

It is a pleasure to follow such esteemed Members on both sides of the House, particularly the Cha...

rose—

Of course I give way to my colleague on the Defence Committee.

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman; he is extremely kind. We on the Government Benches entirely ...

I am grateful for the hon. Gentleman’s honesty when he says that that is the more important quest...

The hon. Gentleman knows that he and I are as one on the question of the future of the deterrent....

I am glad the hon. Gentleman asked me that. I am completely confident. It is a shame that not a s...

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Penrith and The Border (Rory Stewart) on introducing...

The latest figures I have indicate that the figure is actually £13 billion—it has gone up from £8...

I am using the latest figure provided by the House of Commons Library. There are lies, damn lies,...

In July 2011, Anders Fogh Rasmussen said:

“Washington will not always take the lead when it...

To enforce the hon. Lady’s point, is it not chilling that 75% of all of the equipment used by the...

Indeed. It is an incredibly malign force, but we are not prepared to describe it as such, not onl...

Grand coalition is what you need.

It is so good to have a second Lib Dem here so that we can get some commitment for a nuclear dete...

It is a great pleasure to take part in this debate, not because I am a member of the Defence Comm...

My constituency, like that of my hon. Friend, has a strong military history. Does she agree that ...

As the Chairman of the Defence Committee, my hon. Friend the Member for Penrith and The Border (R...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Gosport (Caroline Dinenage). I agree very much wit...

I join other Members in congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for Penrith and The Border (Rory...

Does my hon. Friend agree that one of the most dangerous aspects of all this concerns what Presid...

My right hon. Friend is right, and it is significant how Russia has behaved, particularly with th...

That could, of course, be linked to our 0.7% commitment to international development, as per the ...

I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for provoking me. I think most people in this place know tha...

In a world of rapid change, disorder and insecurity, the men and women of Her Majesty’s armed for...

It is a pleasure, as always, to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Colchester (Sir Bob Russell)...

This has been one of the best debates in which I have taken part during my few years in the House...

I absolutely agree with the hon. Gentleman, but must not those forces also have a clear sense of ...

I entirely agree with the hon. Lady.

Non-kinetic warfare also involves thinking about the w...

I only hope that the speech I am about to make can begin to get close to the excellent contributi...

indicated dissent.

I—

May I say to my hon. and gallant Friend that it is no good contrasting the building of the Succes...

That is the point I wish to address. We will invest an enormous amount in one weapon system for o...

It is a great pleasure to speak in this debate and to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Reigat...

It is always the peril for the last ship in the convoy that it is the most likely to be torpedoed...

Can my hon. Friend recall whether on that occasion the Treasury intervened and tried to trump wha...

I am doubly grateful to the hon. Gentleman for asking a question that I cannot possibly answer, h...

I am getting slightly tired of Government Members talking up 2% as if it were a great achievement...

I entirely agree with the thrust of that intervention, although as I stated in an intervention on...

This has been a very well-informed debate in which we have had 15 speakers. I congratulate the ho...

I am interested in exploring what Labour would do. In 1977, even when the economy was a disaster,...

If the hon. Gentleman lets me get on with my speech, I shall tell him what our position is.