Oral Answers to Questions

Bob Stewart Excerpts

Monday 12th December 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call Sir George Howarth. Where is he? I call Mr Bob Stewart.

[Bob Stewart (Beckenham) (Con)]

When I was a young officer serving in the British Army of the Rhine and in West Berlin, I made the assumption that article 5 was a trigger: if anyone attacked a NATO nation, every member would automatically go to war. I am wondering whether that is exactly right now or whether we have just a commitment to consult, which would take much longer than an automatic reversion to war.

[Sir Michael Fallon]

Article 5 was last invoked after 9/11, when the rest of the alliance pledged to do everything possible to help the United States following the most appalling attack on the twin towers. The answer to my hon. Friend's question, of course, is that once article 5 is triggered, each member state has to examine its obligations to the alliance as a whole. Before that stage, as tensions escalate, I would expect the deployments that we have prepared, including the very high readiness taskforce, to be enacted.