Helen Maguire
Main Page: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)Department Debates - View all Helen Maguire's debates with the Cabinet Office
(1 day, 11 hours ago)
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The Prime Minister
My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and we continue to do that. We need to bear down on Russia and all those who support Russia in this illegal war.
Helen Maguire (Epsom and Ewell) (LD)
We welcome the increase in defence spending, but when I served there were more than 100,000 troops and today there are just over 74,000. It is essential that we reverse the Conservatives’ irresponsible 10,000 troops cut. Will the Prime Minister commit to reversing this devastating cut so that the UK can credibly support collective European security in the absence of US support?
The Prime Minister
We will be undertaking a strategic review of our capability, gauging it against our challenge, and, obviously, I will put the results before the House in due course. I would just caution against the suggestion in the second part of the hon. Lady’s question—if I have got it right—that somehow we should take this as a moment to go it alone without the US. I fundamentally disagree; I think that would be wrong. We have never chosen that course in our history, and we should not choose it now.