Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what policy priority they place on (1) defence of the Realm, (2) defending UK citizens from terrorist rocket attacks, and (3) neutralising the threat of terrorist rocket attacks on UK citizens.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The Defence, security and resilience of the UK and its overseas territories is the primary task of the MOD. Defence works with partners across government to ensure that the UK continues to protect its citizens from terrorism within its borders and overseas.
The Home Office are the lead department for domestic terrorist threats. Should their assessment be that the risk from a particular terrorist methodology such as rockets has increased, consideration will be given to what additional policies, if any, are required to mitigate them. The UK has well-developed systems and capabilities to mitigate the threat from terrorism, including a range of response capabilities that can be deployed to mitigate the effects of the aftermath of any such attack and pursue those responsible.
The NATO ballistic missile defence system, of which the UK is a part, protects European NATO nations from ballistic missile threats from outside the Euro-Atlantic area.
Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Armed Forces veterans there are in the UK in total, including those not in receipt of a pension or payment under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme; and of those, how many are below the age of 66.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Ministry of Defence estimates that in 2016 there were 2.5 million UK Armed Forces veterans residing in households across Great Britain (GB, excluding Northern Ireland), of whom 936,000 (some 37%) were aged between 16 and 64. A breakdown of those aged 16-65 is not available. Further detail on the estimated size and socio-demographic characteristics of the UK Armed Forces veteran population residing in GB can be found in the 'Annual Population Survey: UK Armed Forces Veterans Residing in Great Britain', the latest edition of which (2016) is published at the following address:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/annual-population-survey-uk-armed-forces-veterans-residing-in-great-britain.