Defence Spending

While I disagree with my hon. Friend about misguided previous military engagements—I do not think...

My hon. Friend and I may disagree about whether our interventions were misguided, but he makes a ...

Does my hon. Friend agree that two of the most chilling interventions in recent weeks have been, ...

I can only agree with my hon. Friend. The idea that British brigades would serve within American ...

Like my hon. Friend, I am suffering from flu.

Does my hon. Friend agree that the interventi...

I agree with my hon. Friend. One of the intended consequences of our misguided intervention in Ir...

In deference to the right hon. and learned Member for North East Fife (Sir Menzies Campbell), I t...

Whatever it is called, the glass of water is gratefully received.

Test it first.

If I go down, hon. Members will know why.

Falling defence budgets across NATO have embolden...

My hon. Friend is making a powerful speech and I agree with every word he has said so far. If tre...

I completely agree with my hon. Friend. That point is best encapsulated in the recent statistic f...

I am sympathetic to many of my hon. Friend’s arguments, but does he not need to make it clear tha...

I agree that we inherited a financial shambles, as I have said many times before, but if we are p...

It may be worth reflecting on the fact that in 2010 we spent 2.5% of GDP, so considerable cuts ha...

I made the point earlier that defence spending as a percentage of GDP has been falling under this...

I agree with the point that my hon. Friend makes about maritime patrol aircraft. It is urgent if ...

My right hon. and learned Friend makes a valid point.

With these major shortcomings in our ...

My hon. Friend is making a powerful speech. If we see defence cuts of another 10% after the elect...

I completely agree with my hon. Friend. He makes a very valid point, but time is pressing and thi...

I am following the hon. Gentleman’s speech with great admiration. He talks about banishing demons...

Order. In fairness, Mr Flynn, you have just asked to be put on the speaking list. I want to hear ...

All I will say is that we can have our own opinions about those misguided interventions, or inter...

I would guess that many hon. Members will make contributions about the symbolism of the 2% target...

On urgent operational requirements, the key is in the wording. We do not necessarily have any ide...

Order. Again, the hon. Gentleman wishes to speak later. Please keep something back. Do not use it...

Obviously, yes, we will continue to need them. I am trying to make the point that this became the...

That was a perfect example of taking up to 10 minutes. If we all stick to that, everybody will ge...

I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney (Mr Havard) both for his service ...

Is not part of the problem of dealing with these threats having a strategy in the first place? Th...

That is a fundamental point, so let me deal with it briefly. We need to work from the assumption ...

We have heard three excellent speeches, and I found very little to disagree with in any of them, ...

The hon. Lady is making some characteristically wise observations, and I think we all agree about...

The hon. Gentleman is right: it must be spent properly. The 2% commitment sends signals, and give...

I strongly agree with what has just been said by the hon. Member for Birmingham, Edgbaston (Ms St...

May I counter that argument by saying that, with defence, if we cut ships, regiments or planes, w...

My hon. Friend helps to take me to exactly the next point I was going to make. What also enabled ...

It is a pleasure to participate in this debate. I commend all who have spoken, especially the Cha...

I am listening intently to the right hon. Gentleman’s excellent speech. Does he agree that we do ...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention. The military charities play an important role i...

Specifically on injured service personnel, I would like to give the House just one example of how...

I appreciate that. I have the greatest respect for the Minister and I know from our conversations...

rose—

I call Sir Menzies Campbell.

1 pm

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I am not sure whether to call you colonel on this occasion.

I...

It is a fact that in spring 2010 the Labour Government produced a Green Paper, which would have f...

The hon. Gentleman is right about that. I know a bit about this because I was invited by the then...

May I take the right hon. and learned Gentleman back a little to the defence and security review?...

The hon. Gentleman makes a very sound point. I am sorry that I cannot give any commitments in rel...

When the cold war ended in the early 1990s, the established view was that there would be a peace ...

In endorsing that important point, may I point out that, during the cold war in the 1980s, we wer...

I was not aware of that fact, but I totally concur with the idea of spending anything up to 5%. A...

My hon. Friend makes a very good point about the continual use of the Air Force. That pressure on...

That is the point I am making. As I have said, we may soon be in a position where all our defence...

As for others who have spoken in this debate, it is likely that this will be my last debate in Pa...

The hon. Gentleman is making an important point. The Defence Committee in reports in this Parliam...

I could not agree with the hon. Gentleman more strongly. That is the precise figure that I have i...

It is a happy coincidence that this debate follows the statement on the Ebola crisis and what wil...

I enjoyed listening to the hon. Member for Newport West (Paul Flynn). It is 32 years since I firs...

I cannot resist pointing out that the second name on the motion today, which is

“That this ...

Perhaps I can start again.

What is behind this debate, I think, is a fear of cuts. I congra...

May I clarify one important point of detail? Early-day motion 757 as originally printed referred ...

I used the figure of 20% for effect, rather than for any serious argument.

On the defence b...

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

I give way, for the last time.

The Defence Committee produced a report in 2009 after we visited Russia because of the Georgian c...

I hang on every word of the reports of the Defence Committee. They are authoritative, powerful an...

Although I entirely agree with my right hon. Friend about the changing nature of warfare, does he...

There is no doubt about that, but the point that I and others make is that the threat is not stat...

I thank the Backbench Business Committee for giving us the opportunity to have this debate, and t...

May I first remark upon the absence of my hon. Friend the Member for Stone (Sir William Cash)? He...

Is it not also the case that if someone belongs to a club, they have to pay the subscription? We ...

Yes, and it should not be forgotten that our subscription to the EU is also written into legislat...

rose—

Order. May I remind hon. Members that we need to conclude the debate by 3.30 pm to allow for the ...

I start by apologising because, as I explained to Mr Speaker, a long-standing engagement elsewher...

Last August, I was reminded of something that happened to me more than 25 years earlier. Back the...

It is a great pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Dewsbury (Simon Reevell), who has ...

I, too, have been awestruck by what I have heard this afternoon, not least the speech we have jus...

Twenty five years ago, we spent more than 4% of our gross national product on defence. There were...

As my hon. Friend knows, I back the minimum 2% spend of GDP on defence. He knows how important th...

I was born close to Samlesbury, so I know it well. I certainly applaud that news.

Leaders o...

Not for the first time, my hon. Friend the Member for Basildon and Billericay (Mr Baron) has done...

This has been a very good debate. We have heard 19 speeches from Members in all parts of the Hous...

I know of the hon. Gentleman’s personal commitment to defence; he is passionate about it, as we a...

Well, what I am not being is dishonest, which is what the Government’s position is. I shall reite...

The same as us.

No, it is not the same, because the Government and the hon. Gentleman have got the Chancellor of ...

I genuinely want this to be a bipartisan debate, but could the hon. Gentleman clarify the shadow ...

I know that the hon. Gentleman is not standing for re-election, but he needs to understand that t...

In passing, may I point out that the quotes recently attributed to me were not in fact mine? Is t...

Not at all, because I am actually on the hon. Gentleman’s side in trying to expose the Government...

This afternoon’s debate has been contributed to by a large number of people who put a belief in d...

I am a very thin-skinned individual, as people know, and I am wounded by the hon. Gentleman’s sug...

This is party politics.

Well, it might be party politics, but if I have exposed the inconsistency between what the Chance...

This has been a timely debate, secured by my hon. Friend the Member for Basildon and Billericay (...

It is a sensible way forward to ensure, as I said in the debate last week, that every single piec...

The only comfort that this House can take from the Opposition’s position is that one of the very ...

rose—

No, the hon. Gentleman has had his chance. The defence budget is in balance and our plans are aff...

Will the Minister tell the House how much money was wasted in the Government’s decision to move t...

Yes, it cost just under £100 million to make that decision, which is substantially less than the ...

I congratulate Conservative Ministers on making such a tremendous improvement to the capital budg...

I thank my right hon. Friend for his advice. It is the case that vast majority of the headcount r...

Yesterday I suggested to the Prime Minister that he might be just a tad embarrassed by the fact t...

I will come on to the issue of the 2% in a moment. We are not falling below it and we do not inte...

I want to thank all hon. Members for their contributions. There have been many good speeches here...