Mr Lidington
My hon. Friend is mistaken in his analysis of the EDA. The Under-Secretary of State for Defence, my hon. Friend the Member for Ludlow (Mr Dunne), who has responsibility for defence procurement, took a very hard line and successfully won a flat-cash settlement for the EDA this year. We held out and it required unanimity for that budget to be agreed. It is simply not the case that we can be overridden by a QMV vote.
[Official Report, 7 January 2014, Vol. 573, c. 182.]
Letter of correction from David Lidington:
An error has been identified in the response given on 7 January 2013.
The correct response should have been:
Mr Lidington
My hon. Friend is mistaken in his analysis of the EDA. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and Minister for International Security Strategy, my hon. Friend the Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murrison), who has responsibility for defence procurement, took a very hard line and successfully won a flat-cash settlement for the EDA this year. We held out and it required unanimity for that budget to be agreed. It is simply not the case that we can be overridden by a QMV vote.