Oral Answers to Questions

Henry Tufnell Excerpts

Monday 2nd February 2026 Commons Chamber

[John Healey]

Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity is at the heart of our determination to stand with Ukraine, and we are determined to step up our support for Ukraine. The House will recognise the brutal attack on those mineworkers, who were going to work to mine the coal that keeps their own Ukrainian citizens warm in this period of unprecedented cold in Ukraine.

[Henry Tufnell (Mid and South Pembrokeshire) (Lab)]

3. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of increases in defence spending on Mid and South Pembrokeshire constituency.

[The Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry (Luke Pollard)]

Pembrokeshire is at the heart of Britain’s defence future, and I am excited about the opportunity for local people. To help deliver that, I am proud that this Labour Government are working with the Labour Government in Wales on progressing the defence growth deal for Wales, which will help prove that defence is an engine for growth right across Wales.

[Henry Tufnell]

I welcome the Government’s increased investment in the defence sector in Pembrokeshire; it represents a real opportunity for businesses and the local community, with good, well-paid jobs and strong local supply chains all strengthening our national security. Can the Minister set out what engagement he has had with the local supply chain, as well as any discussions regarding the new munitions and energetics factory in Milford Haven?

[Luke Pollard]

Since I met my hon. Friend, we have been discussing how we can not only roll out faster the new munitions factories that the Government have committed to deliver but support growth in skills, and our £182 million for skills in the defence industrial strategy includes skills funding for Wales. The defence growth deal provides the opportunity to uplift skills for defence right across Wales, and I am happy to continue our conversations on how that can benefit my hon. Friend’s constituents in Pembrokeshire.

Oral Answers to Questions

Henry Tufnell Excerpts

Monday 3rd November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Louise Sandher-Jones]

We will shortly start our single living accommodation review to address exactly those points—the sometimes shocking state of such accommodation and what we can do to support the people who live in it.

[Henry Tufnell (Mid and South Pembrokeshire) (Lab)]

My constituency has a proud military history, and the defence sector continues to thrive at sites like Castlemartin and Cawdor barracks. Does the Minister agree that the defence growth fund should be used to bring direct benefits to communities like mine, as well as to strengthen our national security?

[Luke Pollard]

There is a real opportunity in Pembrokeshire and across Wales as we implement the defence growth deal for Wales to create more good, well-paid and unionised jobs that provide great opportunities. My hon. Friend is a real champion for the opportunities in his constituency, and I am happy to meet him to work out how we can advance opportunities to create more decent jobs across Wales, particularly in Pembrokeshire.

Unity Contract

Henry Tufnell Excerpts

Friday 24th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Maria Eagle]

The hon. Gentleman, as ever, is fighting for his constituents. He makes some good points about Harland and Wolff and skills. We do have defence contracts based at Harland and Wolff, and I will be visiting Belfast in due course—I will not give him the exact date, but it is soon—in order to galvanise and understand what is available, particularly in the SME community, in Northern Ireland. I look forward perhaps to talking to him about that at the time.

[Henry Tufnell (Mid and South Pembrokeshire) (Lab)]

Today’s announcement is a fantastic boost to British industry and British manufacturing. In my constituency we have a proud history of supporting our national security. What steps will the Minister be taking in the defence industrial strategy to support local economic growth in constituencies such as mine in west Wales?

[Maria Eagle]

My hon. Friend is right that there is great potential for economic growth in all of our nations and regions, and in every one of our constituencies, in respect of the extra spending that the MOD is now able to offer to keep our nations safe. I am sure that he has SMEs in his constituency that can benefit from defence contracts if we can make it easier for them to engage with defence, which is one of the problems that they all tell me they have at present.