Ukraine

Debate between Luke Pollard and Alan Strickland

Thursday 18th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Luke Pollard]

I thank the hon. Lady for putting on record the Ukrainians who are in the UK because they found sanctuary with families up and down the country. They will continue to receive our support.

We entered into negotiations with our European friends around SAFE in good faith. We wanted to secure a deal, but we were also clear from the start that we would not accept a deal that was not in the best interests of our taxpayers or the British defence industry. Sadly, we were not able to find a fair financial measure for inclusion. We were happy to pay our fair share, but we were not willing to pay above that.

We continue to work with our European friends, and British companies can participate in SAFE arrangements up to 35%. We will continue to work through bilateral arrangements, such as the Trinity House agreement we signed with Germany and the frigate deal with our friends in Norway, which will benefit Scotland considerably. There is more to do across Europe, and we will do continue to do it, whether we are in SAFE or not.

[Alan Strickland (Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor) (Lab)]

I welcome the Minister’s announcement that readiness levels have been revised and increased so that, if a just peace can be successfully negotiated, forces are ready to deploy to prevent future Russian aggression. Will the Minister set out to the House the extent to which the coalition of the willing is ready for such a significant deployment and commitment and—if he can comment—what force elements might be deployed first?

[Luke Pollard]

The coalition of the willing is ready to deploy. I am afraid that I will not be able to give the news, which Putin wants, about what units we are deploying, but the coalition of the willing has a number of elements: safe skies, which would probably be the fastest deployment of assets in terms of combat air Typhoon jets and allied jets, to secure airspace; safe seas, securing the maritime domain; and supporting the regeneration of Ukrainian forces.

We continue to work with our coalition of the willing allies around rotating readiness, so that whenever peace comes, we are able to deploy. We have UK personnel working with our friends and allies on the coalition of the willing to ensure that, if President Trump’s peace deal is successful, we are able to move immediately after that deal takes place.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Luke Pollard and Alan Strickland

Monday 15th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Alan Strickland (Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor) (Lab)]

T6.   Last week, I was proud to meet Filtronic, a leading satellite communications business at NETPark that is part of a growing space cluster. How will Ministers from the Ministry of Defence and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology work together to champion our innovative space industry?

[Luke Pollard]

As the space nerd in the ministerial team, I welcome my hon. Friend’s interest in space. Working with Baroness Lloyd, the Minister in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, we have a real opportunity to renew our space strategy, because the strategy we inherited was out of date and ineffective and was not supporting our industry. We are seeking to support our industry to go further, and I am happy to meet my hon. Friend and other colleagues to discuss space further.

Ajax Armoured Vehicle

Debate between Luke Pollard and Alan Strickland

Monday 8th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Luke Pollard]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for what he said about Wedgetail. There was a very good debate in Westminster Hall only a few months ago during which a number of the issues relating to the Wedgetail procurement were raised, and the first test flight happened shortly after that.

As for Ajax, it is right for us to take an evidence-based approach that involves looking systematically at the experience of both the vehicles that were potentially causing injuries and those that were not, so we can understand what has happened, and on the back of that we will make a decision on how to proceed. I think that that is the right approach, to be taken calmly and coolly but also professionally. I want the engineering reports to be the priority, and I want those who are working on them to have the time that they need to produce a thorough set of recommendations in respect of what has happened and what needs to happen next.

[Alan Strickland (Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor) (Lab)]

I thank the Minister for the action that he has taken on Ajax. As other Members have said, this relates not only to issues in that programme but to long-running issues in defence procurement, which, as I know from businesses in my constituency, is often too slow and too expensive and fails to deliver the effective kit that our men and women in uniform deserve. Once the investigations are concluded—as mentioned by the Minister—how will the lessons be taken forward into the implementation of the Defence Industrial Strategy and other action to ensure that our courageous service people get the right kit, at the right price, at the right time?

[Luke Pollard]

I can reassure my hon. Friend that we are not waiting just for the output of these reviews to make substantial reforms to our procurement system. We know it is too slow, and we know it is too expensive. In the Defence Industrial Strategy that we published a few months ago we set out our ambition to cut our contracting timelines, to have more iterative development, to invest more in skills, and to deliver more of that increasing defence budget to British companies. We will of course look at what the reviews say, and I can reassure the House that if decisions are required, the Secretary of State and I will be making them.

UK Military Base Protection

Debate between Luke Pollard and Alan Strickland

Monday 23rd June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Luke Pollard]

I say to the right hon. Member that this is not a protest group, but people who have undertaken severe criminal damage to military assets and who are increasingly using violence as part of their modus operandi. The decision by the Home Secretary has not been taken lightly, and it reflects the seriousness of the intent of that organisation. I welcome free speech and I welcome debate and challenge, but vandalising RAF jets is not free speech; it is criminal damage. That intervention on a military base is, as I said in my statement, not only epically stupid, but a threat to our national security, and the Home Secretary was right to proscribe the group.

[Alan Strickland (Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor) (Lab)]

I thank the Defence Secretary for the urgent review he has launched, and the Minister for the leadership he is showing. I join Members from across the House in condemning the appalling attack at Brize Norton, which I was privileged to visit earlier this year with the RAF parliamentary scheme.

As well as attacking military installations, Palestine Action has launched violent assaults on defence businesses, including in my constituency. As well as rightly holding a review of military base protection, will Defence and Home Office Ministers review what additional security measures and advice—through the MOD, the police and other bodies—our defence manufacturers may need in the coming years as we ramp up defence production?

[Luke Pollard]

I thank my hon. Friend for championing defence as the Member of Parliament for his constituency. He is exactly right in highlighting that Palestine Action has targeted not just military bases, but defence businesses—businesses employing people up and down the country and contributing to our national defence. He is right to do so, and I can reassure him that conversations between the Ministry of Defence, the Home Office, police forces and those in our defence supply chain happen regularly, and we will continue to keep them abreast of developments and the concerns we may have.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Luke Pollard and Alan Strickland

Monday 6th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Luke Pollard]

It is vital that we continue to support Ukraine and build our industrial capacity in the United Kingdom and across the NATO alliance to ensure that Ukraine can fight not only tonight but tomorrow. Part of that is about increasing the industrial supply of not just UK manufacturers but indigenous manufacturers within Ukraine itself. Building that greater industrial capacity is something that the Government take seriously. That is why the Secretary of State and the Minister for Defence Procurement and Industry have published the outline of the defence industrial strategy. We will continue to work with partners at both national and international level—and additionally at a regional and local level—to ensure that we have the industrial capacity and skills required to restock our own supply and continue to support Ukraine.

[Alan Strickland (Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor) (Lab)]

10. What steps he plans to take through the defence industrial strategy to increase support for defence sector SMEs.