Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Johanna Baxter and Maria Eagle(6 days, 10 hours ago)
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Maria Eagle
Mr Speaker, I was waiting to hear whether the hon. Lady had got the wrong question, but she fitted it in and it was in order, so I congratulate her on that. We are co-operating across different European arrangements, and our own, to ensure we can supply Ukraine. We in the UK have stepped up, spending £4.5 billion this year. We co-ordinate a lot of the UK and European-wide efforts to ensure that Ukraine can stand up to the aggression it still faces from Russia, no matter what President Putin or anybody else has to say about it.
Johanna Baxter (Paisley and Renfrewshire South) (Lab)
The Minister for Defence Procurement and Industry (Maria Eagle)
The landmark agreement secured today will complement our bilateral partnerships with European countries. It will pave the way for UK defence industries to participate in EU defence programmes, supporting thousands of British jobs, boosting growth and making our continent safer.
Johanna Baxter
I am pleased that today the United Kingdom is hosting a summit in London to reset our relationship with Europe—yet another sign that this Labour Government are restoring our reputation as a global power after it was trashed by a decade of Tory incompetence. Will my right hon. Friend outline what steps are being taken to ensure that our world-leading defence industry can access the European rearmament fund, to drive economic prosperity at home, benefit my constituents, and strengthen security across Europe?
Maria Eagle
The UK and the EU will use this opportunity to explore closer collaboration across defence industrial initiatives in a way that will support economic growth and jobs on both sides, and help to prevent fragmentation across our shared industrial base. We can now go on to discuss a bilateral agreement to facilitate participation in EU schemes such as ReArm and SAFE—Security Action for Europe.
Ukraine
Debate between Johanna Baxter and Maria Eagle(3 months, 1 week ago)
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Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Maria Eagle
The US Secretary of Defence made it clear yesterday that any peace negotiations that the Americans are involved in need to lead to a durable peace that does not see a resumption of the aggression that has led to this war, and we support that. We have also made it quite clear that these negotiations must involve Ukraine—of course they must. That is the way in which this war will finally end.
Johanna Baxter (Paisley and Renfrewshire South) (Lab)
I welcome the Minister’s statement, particularly the commitment that any negotiations about Ukraine must involve Ukraine, because if reports of the call between President Trump and Moscow are to be believed, this is less the art of the deal and more a charter for appeasement. Will we be working with NATO allies to establish a clear road map with defined timeframes for Ukraine’s NATO membership, ensuring long-term deterrence against inevitable further Russian aggression?
Maria Eagle
We have always said that Ukraine’s rightful place is in NATO, and our position is that Ukraine is on an irreversible path to NATO membership. However, we have also always been clear that the process will take time. I have already said quite clearly that the fate of Ukraine in these negotiations cannot be determined without Ukraine being fully involved, and that is our priority. At the moment, warfighting is still happening to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position to negotiate from strength.