War in Ukraine

Clive Jones Excerpts

Thursday 4th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Clive Jones (Wokingham) (LD)]

I thank the hon. Member for Harwich and North Essex (Sir Bernard Jenkin) for bringing this very important debate to us today. It is an opportunity for the House to condemn the evil actions of Putin in his illegal invasion of Ukraine and to assert our strong support for President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people. Our support is even more important now, as it is clear that President Trump’s support is constantly wavering. It is so sad that President Trump is ready to once again sell out Ukraine and its people and to agree a carve-up of land with President Putin. This is a Putin who openly says that he is ready for war with NATO.

Residents in Wokingham regularly write to me expressing their disgust at Putin and Trump, and they call on the Government to do more to support Ukraine. It is painfully obvious that we cannot rely on Trump to defend European freedoms. For that reason, the Government must continue to focus on defending British territory and playing a leading role with our European neighbours to defend Europe from the Russians. We must build trust with Europe; it is in our national interest. It is also in Europe’s interest that it should work with us—a fact that I am sure is not lost on many Europeans.

Our Government must continue to offer support to President Zelensky, along with France, Germany and NATO. They must join him in future negotiations with President Trump, so that Europe can show a strong and united front against the Russian aggressor and against any bullying tactics from President Trump. Trump so often looks more like an appeaser from the 1930s than an important leader in the most successful alliance, which has defended our freedoms in the west, including the USA, for much of the last 30 years.

I hope the Minister will reject the joint plan of Putin and Trump and will continue to stand up for Ukraine.

Russian Drones: Violation of Polish Airspace

Clive Jones Excerpts

Wednesday 10th September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Al Carns]

We are doing that right now. The defence industrial strategy, the strategic defence review and the industrial rebuild will ensure that we have the right arms—and enough of them—to reinforce the deterrence and, if called to, to fight and win.

[Clive Jones (Wokingham) (LD)]

Russian drones over Poland suggest that Putin is testing NATO’s resolve to support its members. Will the Minister push the Prime Minister to urge President Trump and the members of the G7 to produce a cohesive plan to seize the $300 billion in frozen Russian assets held in their countries and funnel that money to the frontline in Ukraine? That money would transform Zelensky’s efforts to repel Putin’s illegal war machine. Will the Government commit to doing that?

Oral Answers to Questions

Clive Jones Excerpts

Monday 19th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Luke Pollard]

I am delighted to pay tribute to Major Eales and so many other volunteers who are working to support our veterans. Valour marks a departure from the PR-focused postcode lottery diet of short-term funding for headlines that we were fed by the last Tory Government. No more sticking plasters for veterans; long-term, sustainable funding on a nationwide basis is what Operation Valour is delivering.

[Clive Jones (Wokingham) (LD)]

T2. Will the Minister tell the House how much of the European Union’s €150 billion rearmament fund he anticipates will be available to our defence companies, who provide high quality jobs, and to our armed forces?

[John Healey]

It is simply too early to say that about any of the nations, including all 27 EU nations. What I can say is that today’s agreement is the necessary key that opens the door to that potential for our Government and our defence industry.

Oral Answers to Questions

Clive Jones Excerpts

Monday 24th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Lillian Jones (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab)]

1. What steps he is taking to improve housing for military personnel and their families.

[Clive Jones (Wokingham) (LD)]

5. What steps he is taking to improve the quality of accommodation for service families.

[The Secretary of State for Defence (John Healey)]

On behalf of the House, I would like to mark the passing of Group Captain John “Paddy” Hemingway, the last surviving battle of Britain pilot—one of those strikingly few brave young men who turned the tide of the war and kept our nation safe from Nazi invasion.

The fire sale of military family homes by Conservative Ministers in 1996 was probably the worst privatisation ever. The Government were paying £600,000 a day to rent back the homes and then paying all the repair costs, with no power to plan or to do the major upgrades needed. We bought back 36,000 forces homes in January, we started the defence housing review in February, and we aim to publish our housing plans in the summer.

--- Later in debate ---

[John Healey]

My hon. Friend is right; the sacrifice that those who serve in uniform make to keep us all safe is exceptional. The least that their families deserve is a decent home—it is, after all, the heart of all our lives. The steps we have taken with the buy-back of the Annington homes is a decisive break with the past, and we will now put in place the necessary plans to upgrade forces family homes for the future.

[Clive Jones]

The Ministry of Defence owns more than 300 houses in the former Arborfield garrison in my constituency. Only a handful of them are occupied by service families; the remainder are let privately. But increasingly they are being left vacant, which, with the estate not being maintained, is affecting the lives of constituents. I am told that no decisions can be taken on the future of the site until a housing strategy is completed. Can the MOD make an early decision on the Arborfield housing, to stop the neglect and return much-needed, affordable housing to the market?

[John Healey]

If the hon. Gentleman writes to me with the specifics, I will certainly look into that. He sets out for the House the character of some of the neglect and decline that we have seen in our forces housing for so long, and the bind that previous Governments have been in, without the power or control to make the upgrades and plan for wholesale renewal for the future. That is what our housing review will start to fix. We cannot fix these deep-seated, long-running problems overnight, but we are determined to do better than we have done in the past.

Oral Answers to Questions

Clive Jones Excerpts

Monday 10th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Al Carns]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. The visit to Redditch was truly enlightening; the charitable sector there is doing amazing work to support veterans in his constituency. I fully champion the breakfast clubs they are putting on.

[Clive Jones (Wokingham) (LD)]

T8. The United Kingdom has a strong defence industry worth £36 billion in exports, which is important to companies in my constituency, such as Collins Aerospace, Amentum and Chess Dynamics. The Government’s commitment to strengthening UK-EU relations is especially welcome in this sector. What steps is the Department taking to boost exports with our EU and NATO allies?

[John Healey]

We are setting out to reset relations with key European allies. We have said we will look to co-operate more closely with the European Union where that is in British interests and where we can add to the defence and security arrangements for Europe as a whole. We have struck some deep new bilateral agreements, such as the Trinity House agreement with Germany. We have to see our British industry not just as producing the kit our forces need, but as an essential part of our deterrence that, alongside allies, deters aggression.