Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many cyber attacks there have been on the UK in the last 12 months.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
As the hon. Member's question asks about cyber attacks across the UK the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is the appropriate authority with the remit for Cyber defence of the wider nation, and a response best coordinated through the Cabinet Office. The NCSC public sites expand on their mission: What we do at the NCSC - NCSC.GOV.UK
The Ministry of Defence cannot offer a view outside of our purview, and we will only report cyber events involving our systems, the details around that will be treated with varying levels of sensitivity to protect our overall security posture.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to help improve the protection of cargo ships in the Red Sea from Houthi missile and drone attacks.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The UK Government strongly condemns the illegal and abhorrent attacks by the Houthis on merchant vessels; we are clear the Houthis must end their aggression immediately.
The Department for Transport, supported by the Royal Navy's UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) organisation, continue to provide UK-flagged shipping with advice on the risk posed by the Houthis to merchant vessels.
We continue to seek to work with regional partners on a long-term strategy to contain the Houthi threat and are committed to a future Yemen Peace Process.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to support people who served in Operation Banner.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
We owe the people who served on Operation Banner a huge debt of gratitude. Their professionalism and in many cases personal sacrifices saved many lives and helped to bring about peace in Northern Ireland. I will continue to champion their cause as we deal with Northern Ireland’s legacy. We are working hard to ensure that veterans’ interests are fully considered in any future legislation on this matter.
I am acutely aware of the impact that military service can have on veterans and their families. Where a veteran (or serving member of the Armed Forces) faces allegations arising from activities related to their duties, they are offered appropriate legal support at public expense.
The Veterans Welfare Service (VWS), run by the Ministry of Defence, provides free one-to-one support for veterans or anyone supporting a veteran, and their families, with a national network of welfare managers across the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
More broadly, in England, Op COURAGE provides support with mental health and wellbeing for veterans, and Op RESTORE is the veterans’ physical health and wellbeing service, with similar services available in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Housing support is available across the United Kingdom via Op FORTITUDE, a single referral pathway connecting veterans with support
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what additional security his Department plans to provide to UK army bases.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As per my statement on Monday 23 June 2025, a full security review is being conducted across the defence estate. Further plans will be announced in due course after the completion of the review.
Whilst the Army will undertake some specific measures to provide additional security for its infrastructure as part of this wider work, these cannot be disclosed for reasons of operational security.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of using drones for defence missions.
Answered by Maria Eagle
The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) sets a new vision for how our Armed Forces should be conceived. This envisages a combination of conventional and digital warfighters; the power of drones, AI, and autonomy complementing the 'heavy metal' of tanks and artillery. It identifies that an immediate priority for force transformation should be a shift towards greater use of autonomy and Artificial Intelligence within the UK's conventional forces. As in Ukraine, this would provide greater accuracy, lethality, and cheaper capabilities-changing the economics of Defence. To support this shift towards autonomy, the Government has already announced an additional £2 billion this parliament on autonomy, making total spend on autonomy £4bn, including establishing a new Drone Centre.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent progress his Department has made on fitting military vehicles with direct energy weapons to help protect from swarm drone attacks.
Answered by Maria Eagle
This Government has announced nearly £1 billion in further investment for Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) to bring these capabilities into service, including a new DEW for the British Army by the end of the decade.
We have recently completed trials of both radio frequency and laser DEW demonstrators mounted on British Army vehicles, putting DEW in the hands of the warfighter so we can learn from their experience and shape the development of future systems. This included the first use of DEW by the Army to counter drone swarms as part of live testing against targets.
DragonFire, our high energy laser for Type 45 destroyers, recently completed a trial that saw us fire 300 times, proving consistency and reliability, and included 30 drone defeats and firings in adverse weather conditions. This is critical to system development, meeting our plan to put it into service from 2027.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what leadership skills training is provided by the military to corporate leaders seeking assistance with upskilling their leadership teams.
Answered by Maria Eagle
The Ministry of Defence does not provide leadership training specifically for corporate leaders. There are some opportunities for industry partners to attend courses which include Leadership themes.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of defence budgets in the last 10 years.
Answered by Maria Eagle
The recent increase in defence spending is the largest sustained increase since the end of the Cold War.
The Government is firmly committed to increasing defence spending to reach 2.6% of GDP by 2027 and has set an ambition to reach 3%in the next Parliament, as fiscal and economic conditions allow. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has also made a historic commitment to spend 5% of GDP on national security. This is a generational increase in defence and security spending, honouring our commitment to be a leader in NATO.
The Department publishes historic MOD spending in cash and real terms in its annual Departmental Resources publication.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to encourage Commonwealth citizens to join the British Army.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Commonwealth citizens have long made a valued contribution to the British Army and continue to be an important part of its structure and capability. There is always a strong interest in joining the Army. This can result in thousands of applications being received, which must be managed against the Army’s annual limit of 1,000 Basic Training starts for Commonwealth applicants and the 15% limit on the number of Commonwealth citizens who can serve in each cap badge.
In August 2024, the Army re-opened the recruitment window, accepting applications from Commonwealth citizens sponsored by Serving personnel under the Recruit Bounty Scheme. This was limited to specific roles, including Musician, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineer, Royal Engineer Technician and Tradesman, and the Parachute Regiment. This initiative generated a high volume of applications from across the Commonwealth.
The recruitment of Commonwealth citizens is subject to regular review by the Army to ensure it remains aligned with operational requirements. At present, the Commonwealth recruiting pipeline is forecast to remain closed in the medium term due to the sheer volume of applications during the 2024-25 recruitment window, which Capita continue to process.
The Ministry of Defence also works closely with the Home Office to ensure that Commonwealth personnel and their families benefit from specific immigration rules which enable them to enter, live, work and settle in the UK and become British citizens.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress his Department has made on using drone technology.
Answered by Maria Eagle
Each of the Front-Line Commands employ a range of different drone capabilities and are currently developing an array of future capabilities aligned to the Defence Drone Strategy. In 2024 the Defence Uncrewed Systems Design Authority (DUxDA) was established to focus on Research and Development, Test and Evaluation, Policy and Regulation, Security and Integration and Knowledge Exploitation across the developing portfolio of Defence Uncrewed Systems.