Oral Answers to Questions

Chris Green Excerpts

Monday 15th January 2018 Commons Chamber

[Chris Green (Bolton West) (Con)]

2. What steps his Department is taking to increase defence exports and protect defence industry jobs.

[Dan Carden (Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)]

13. What steps he is taking to support the defence industry.

[The Secretary of State for Defence (Gavin Williamson)]

The strategic defence and security review created a national security objective to promote our prosperity, supporting a thriving and competitive defence sector. We have now published our national shipbuilding strategy and refreshed defence industrial policy; industry has welcomed both. Exports are now also a defence core task, and I was delighted last month to sign the biggest Typhoon order in a decade, worth £6 billion.

[Chris Green]

Our NATO allies should be living up to their commitment to spend 2% of gross domestic product on defence, including 20% of defence expenditure being on major equipment, as agreed at the 2014 NATO Wales summit. Does my right hon. Friend agree that, if all members of NATO lived up to their commitments, there would be a boost to the British defence manufacturing sector and therefore to high-skilled British jobs?

[Gavin Williamson]

My hon. Friend makes a valuable point. He is right that, if everyone lived up their commitments on NATO spending and capital equipment, Britain could be a major beneficiary. I have made that point repeatedly to NATO Defence Ministers. It is about making sure that we have the right product on offer, so that we can sell it around the globe. That is something we in this country can be proud of as we continue to make significant and important deals across the globe.