Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ben Wallace and Steve Double

Monday 3rd February 2020 Commons Chamber

[Steve Double (St Austell and Newquay) (Con)]

10. What steps his Department is taking to ensure that the capabilities of the armed forces are adequate to meet future threats.

[The Secretary of State for Defence (Mr Ben Wallace)]

As announced in last year’s Queen’s Speech, the Prime Minister has committed to undertake the deepest review of Britain’s foreign policy, defence, security and development since the cold war. It will consider all aspects of our defence and security capabilities, including our approach to procurement and maintaining our technological edge against current and future threats.

[Steve Double]

I thank the Secretary of State for his answer and for this Government’s ongoing commitment to our security. Now that we have left the EU, our ongoing relationship on security with the EU will inevitably change, so what steps is he taking to strengthen our role within NATO for the future?

[Mr Wallace]

The United Kingdom is a full member of NATO and completely committed to ensuring that that alliance has a long-term future. The announcements that we made at the NATO summit in December set NATO on the right path of expanding into areas of hybrid threat and cyber. I am confident that, with Britain and our partners working to ensure NATO’s success, NATO will have a long and fruitful future.