Oral Answers to Questions

Hugh Gaffney Excerpts

Monday 23rd October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Ellwood]

I am delighted to say that I am very supportive of that. The more information we have to help us understand who veterans are—whether through a veterans identity card; through changing the driving licence so that it has a symbol to show that people are veterans, which we are looking at with the Secretary of State; or, indeed, by showing that on GP records—the more we can support veterans, and that is the direction of travel in which we should go.

[Hugh Gaffney (Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill) (Lab)]

18. What recent assessment he has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on defence spending.

[The Secretary of State for Defence (Sir Michael Fallon)]

Leaving the European Union should not affect our defence spending. Our commitment to European security will continue when we leave. We are committed to meeting the NATO guidelines of spending at least 2% of GDP on defence and to increasing the defence budget by at least 0.5% above inflation in every year of the Parliament. That will enable us to deliver smarter, stronger defence in the face of intensifying threats.

[Hugh Gaffney]

With the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, the pound is in free-fall. What action is the Secretary of State taking to ensure that costs are kept under control for future equipment that must be paid for in US dollars, such as the F-35 and Apache helicopter?

[Sir Michael Fallon]

Like any large organisation, we take precautions against movements in the currency. We continue to ensure that we get the best value for money from all parts of our equipment programme.