Oral Answers to Questions

David Chadwick Excerpts

Monday 2nd February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Louise Sandher-Jones]

As the hon. Member will be aware, I cannot provide an update on that specific instance now, but I will get an answer for him. We are exploring how we can make best use of the existing estate.

[David Chadwick (Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe) (LD)]

10. If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of holding cross-party talks on reaching 3% defence spending by 2030.

[Munira Wilson (Twickenham) (LD)]

22. If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of holding cross-party talks on reaching 3% defence spending by 2030.

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

The Government are already making the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the cold war; we plan to hit 2.6% of GDP being spent on defence in April 2027, and 3% in the next Parliament.

[David Chadwick]

Britain faces a once-in-a-generation threat to our national security, as Putin’s war continues in Europe and uncertainty grows about the future reliability of the United States. Will the Secretary of State therefore take up the Liberal Democrats’ proposal that we issue time-limited defence bonds? That would allow the public to invest directly in modernising our armed forces, raise billions for new equipment, and ensure strong parliamentary oversight of how the money is spent.

[John Healey]

I note the arguments that the hon. Gentleman and his party are now making, but it was just in autumn 2024 that the Lib Dems were calling for this Government to set a pathway to 2.5%. We went further than that, with the largest increase in defence spending since the end of the cold war, three years before he was calling for it. We have a plan to hit 3% in the next Parliament.