United Kingdom Military Installations Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Ministry of Defence
Julian Smith
Main Page: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)Department Debates - View all Julian Smith's debates with the Ministry of Defence
United Kingdom Military Installations
Julian Smith Excerpts(2 days, 3 hours ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
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
Luke Pollard
The threats facing our bases are not just from foreign actors. My hon. Friend is right to talk about the effects of a changing climate. She will know that the Prime Minister announced that the RAF will be taking on a new firefighting role, building on the firefighting expertise we have on our bases in Cyprus. That will involve additional equipment on some of the RAF assets so that they are able to tackle wildfires in the United Kingdom in future.
Sir Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)
The women and men in our security services are doing the most incredible work on this front and on multiple fronts at the current time. Will the Minister commit to fighting in Government and across Government to get whatever resource they need?
Luke Pollard
I am not neutral on this matter. I want more resource for defence, and I have made that case very strongly from the Dispatch Box. We have an increasing defence budget. The Chancellor set out that 3% of our GDP will be spent on defence in 2030 and 3.5% by 2035. My priority will be to spend it wisely and to make sure we learn the lessons from the broken procurement system we inherited so that we have more of that money on the frontline where it is needed.