Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much funding he has allocated to the Finucane Inquiry.

Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

As I outlined in my oral statement of 11 September 2024, I considered the likely costs and impact of the Patrick Finucane Inquiry on public finances. It is the Government’s expectation that the Inquiry will avoid unnecessary costs given all the previous reviews and investigations and the large amount of information and material that is already in the public domain. Public inquiries regularly publish financial reports on their expenditure in the course of their work.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 9 June 2025 to Question 57308, on Chagos Islands: Sovereignty, if she will place in the Library a copy of the (a) calculations and (b) analysis produced by the Government Actuary’s Department.

Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

Details of the calculations have been agreed by the Government Actuary’s Department and are in the Explanatory Memorandum laid alongside the Treaty. However, it is not normal practice for government departments to release details of corresponding financial analysis. Any financial obligations, including departmental budgetary responsibilities, will be managed responsibly within the government’s fiscal framework. No payments will be made until the Treaty is legally binding.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Prime Minister’s oral contribution at Prime Minister's Questions on 4 June 2025, Official Report, column 302, what the evidential basis is for the statement that China opposes the Chagos Islands deal.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The deal to secure the base on Diego Garcia is vital for our national security.

Our Five Eyes allies - the US, Australia, New Zealand, Canada - as well as India, South Korea and Japan, all put out formal statements welcoming the deal.

There are clear safeguards in the treaty, including a clear prohibition to prevent any other foreign security forces, civilian or military - including the Chinese - from establishing themselves on the outer islands.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to Minister for the Cabinet Office's Oral Statement of 24 June 2025 on the National Security Strategy, Official Report, columns 974-76, what estimate he has made of the proportion of GDP spent on broader resilience and security spending in the most recent period for which data is available.

Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The National Security Strategy 2025 was published on 24 June 2025. It confirms that by combining an increase in funding with recognition of the vital contribution the Single Intelligence Account plays to our national defence, the UK will spend 2.6% on NATO qualifying defence spending from 2027. This will be considered core spending.

NATO provides reporting guidelines for the 1.5% defence and security related spending. It will include investments that raise the overall resilience of our societies, such as energy security, telecommunications, and infrastructure, as well as the execution of defence plans, expanding industrial capacity and innovation and counter hybrid actions.

Along with all other NATO allies, the UK will report against the new categories of defence spending at the next NATO reporting deadline.