Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andy Burnham and Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

Wednesday 2nd September 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The approach I will take—we met the Deputy First Minister at Port Talbot last week—is that where proposals come from the Senedd Government, we will give them fair consideration. We need to work together to get growth going, and we need to secure the future of Port Talbot together. If that can be done with more locally devolved power across Wales, I am absolutely ready to work with the right hon. Lady and the First Minister on that.

[Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough) (Lab)]

Q13. The British people should be under no illusion that the nation faces a significantly increased threat level, especially from Russia, but also that we have a US leadership for whom European security is no longer a focus or a priority. That is why it is imperative that we invest in our armed forces in the here and now, rather than being sorry later. Indeed, defence is definitely one area where vibes alone just will not be enough. Rather than kicking the can down the road, waiting for a fiscal event in a future year, will the Prime Minister urgently commit to charting a pathway to reaching 3% of GDP being spent on defence by 2030? As his Chancellor rightly noted, that is critical to keeping our country safe.

[The Prime Minister]

I have made that commitment, I have made it very clearly, and I have done so for a considerable time. I was in Ukraine last week for a very specific reason: to repeat it on the world stage. My hon. Friend can be absolutely sure of that. Alongside our commitment to defence, we also have to build the resilience of Britain. We need to ensure that the maximum amount of the funding committed to the defence investment plan goes back into the reindustrialisation of our communities. We should do more to maintain sovereign manufacturing and production capability here, and that will be a theme of my Government. We will make sure that British taxpayers’ money goes to supporting industry in our own country, to make us more resilient going into the future.