Defence Budget and Transformation

Debate between Lord Hammond of Runnymede and Iain Wright

Monday 14th May 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hammond]

The answer to the second question is yes, the funding for the successor submarine is based on continuous at-sea deterrence. I am not sure about the 25 figure; the figure in the SDSR is 19 frigates and destroyers.

[Mr Iain Wright (Hartlepool) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State has mentioned long-term value and a sustainable equipment programme for our vital UK industry, but given the debacle in respect of the Royal Navy fuel tankers, for which not a single British supplier or shipyard was invited to bid for the £500 million contracts, what reassurances can he give on providing real long-term value for the UK defence industry by enhancing our British manufacturing capability as well as our military capability?

[Mr Hammond]

We have made it very clear that where there is a sovereign capability that needs to be retained in the UK—such as in complex warship building, aerospace technologies and submarine building—we will enter into agreements with the private companies that have that capacity in order to ensure it is sustained. The hon. Gentleman is completely wrong about the MARS—military afloat reach and sustainability—tankers, however. British companies were invited to tender and were involved in the process. In the end, none chose to submit a bid, and the only bid we received from a European company was far in excess of the winning bid, received from a South Korean company.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Hammond of Runnymede and Iain Wright

Monday 19th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hammond]

I assure my hon. Friend that we are having regular discussions with US counterparts; I am going to Washington immediately after the new year holiday. Whatever happens, our strong security and intelligence relationship with the US will continue. It benefits both parties and is at the very heart of our strategy.

[Mr Iain Wright (Hartlepool) (Lab)]

On Friday, I attended a ceremony to commemorate the 97th anniversary of the bombardment of the Hartlepools. It was the first direct attack on the mainland for centuries, and 118 people, including 37 children, were killed. Given the national and local significance of the event, what steps will the Government put in place to commemorate the centenary in three years’ time?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Hammond of Runnymede and Iain Wright

Thursday 27th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hammond]

It is a bit rich for the hon. Gentleman to talk about the selling off of search and rescue, when the search and rescue private finance initiative project was initiated by the Government in which he served and had been running for at least three years before the general election. On the specific point about the Liverpool coastguard co-ordination centre, Ministers looked at the proposals made by officials in the Department and judged that the decisions to be made between Belfast and Liverpool and between Stornoway and Shetland were so close that the consultation should go forward while making it clear that there was a judgment call to be made within each of those two pairs of stations. There was not a clear and definitive business case, which I think is what has given rise to the story in the Liverpool Echo to which the hon. Gentleman has referred.

[Mr Iain Wright (Hartlepool) (Lab)]

12. What plans he has for the future of bus services.