Lord Spellar
Main Page: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Spellar's debates with the Ministry of Defence
(5 years, 10 months ago)
Commons ChamberThe right hon. Member for Warley (John Spellar) deserves some encouragement at this very early stage of his parliamentary career!
Does the Minister not understand that to export defence equipment we have to have a strong home market, and that is why other European countries insist on building vessels such as the fleet solid support ships in their own yards, with their own workers. What blind dogma is stopping these Ministers and their Department doing the same and ensuring that we make them in Britain?
As I said a moment ago, we are making sure that we go out to international competition, because that gives value for money to this country, and we can also then invest the savings we make in other capabilities. It means that we attract the best and affordable solutions. It also brings competition at the heart of our shipbuilding strategy, because we want our shipyards to go out there and compete for international orders.