Oral Answers to Questions

Gregg McClymont Excerpts

Monday 26th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Dr Murrison]

The United Kingdom stood alone last Monday in insisting on flat cash for the European Defence Agency. I am very pleased that we did so, as we have been forced, because of the deficit we inherited, to make fairly substantial cuts to the defence budget and it would have been perverse to vote through an increase in the EDA budget. It is absolutely crucial that the EDA takes every opportunity to ensure that it extracts efficiencies from its programmes, and it will have our support in levering in effect, but the emphasis must be on effect and capability, not institution building.

[Gregg McClymont (Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East) (Lab)]

On European defence co-operation, the Minister will be aware that the separatists in Scotland have recently announced that they would wish a separate Scotland to join NATO at the same time as getting rid of Scotland’s nuclear weapons—a very difficult thing to achieve. Is he aware of any discussions between the Scottish Government and NATO?

[Dr Murrison]

I think that it would be premature for the Scottish Government to engage with NATO, as I confidently expect the good people of Scotland—people of sound good sense—to reject independence at the forthcoming referendum.

Oral Answers to Questions

Gregg McClymont Excerpts

Monday 20th February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Peter Luff]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and that was a major feature in the UK/French summit that occurred last Friday, as my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State said earlier. The future of the unmanned combat air sector is very important, which was exactly why I highlighted in my earlier answer the contract with BAE Systems. That contract will take forward technology in a number of crucial areas and ensure that our skill base is sustained, maintained and can take advantage of the opportunities that the sector will provide in the future.

[Gregg McClymont (Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East) (Lab)]

17. What discussions he has had with his NATO counterparts on Pakistan’s involvement in Afghanistan.

[The Secretary of State for Defence (Mr Philip Hammond)]

Pakistan is an important player in the regional politics and will play an important role in Afghanistan’s future, so Pakistan’s involvement is routinely discussed during regular talks on regional issues with my NATO counterparts, most recently at the NATO Brussels summit that took place on 2 and 3 February. Lasting stability and security in Afghanistan is, I believe, in Pakistan’s interests. We continue to encourage Pakistan to support the Afghan-led reconciliation process fully, recognising that progress could help pay a peace dividend on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

[Gregg McClymont]

The Secretary of State will be aware of the history of the Pakistani intelligence services’ role in the emergence of the Taliban. Is he as concerned as I am about recent reports that the Pakistani intelligence services continue to operate inside Afghanistan? Does that have implications for Afghanistan after NATO leaves the country?

[Mr Hammond]

The hon. Gentleman underlines the fact that Afghanistan and Pakistan are inextricably linked, largely by the big overlap of the Pashtun population in the border areas. We should never forget, as well, that Pakistan has suffered more from terrorism than any other country, with more than 30,000 Pakistanis having lost their lives to acts of terrorism over the past decade. We continue to look carefully at how Pakistan’s security forces and others interact with their Afghan counterparts, and we continue to encourage Pakistan to play a positive and dynamic role in stabilising the area.

Armed Forces (Redundancies)

Gregg McClymont Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Dr Fox]

My hon. Friend makes two very important points. First, clearly, when those who have been injured are still recovering, there will be no question of redundancy. Secondly, it makes a great deal of sense to encourage such mentoring programmes. We often hear that young people do not have sufficient role models, and getting people from the armed forces into our schools will provide young people with the sort of role models that will be of real value to them.

[Gregg McClymont (Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East) (Lab)]

Can the Secretary of State repeat his previous pledge that no member of the armed forces who is currently serving in Afghanistan will be made redundant?

[Dr Fox]

When we finally get to the point when redundancies are announced—that is some way off yet—nobody who is in pre-deployment training, or deployed and in receipt of the operational allowance, or recovering from injuries sustained on operations, or on post-operational leave, will be made compulsorily redundant.

Oral Answers to Questions

Gregg McClymont Excerpts

Monday 31st January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Gregg McClymont (Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East) (Lab)]

14. What assessment he has made of the effect on armed forces pensions of proposed changes to indexation arrangements for public sector pensions.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mr Andrew Robathan)]

No robust assessment of the kind requested can be made as future movements of the retail price index and consumer price index are not known. To use the current 2010 rate as the basis for any forecast would give an unreliable representation of future payments in the long term as these rates will fluctuate over time.

[Gregg McClymont]

I thank the Minister for his answer, but does he not agree that most studies suggest that CPI produces a higher pension than RPI? Does that not count as a cut in military and service personnel pensions?

[Mr Robathan]

If I may gently prod the hon. Gentleman, he has it the wrong way round: RPI is more likely to produce a higher pension than CPI, which is not what he said. As I pointed out to the right hon. Member for Delyn (Mr Hanson), there was no upgrading of pensions at all in April 2010 because RPI was negative in 2009, and that is the way things are. It was a hard decision, but we believe that it is in the best interests of the country and of the armed forces as a whole.