Oral Answers to Questions

Mark Menzies Excerpts

Monday 4th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Dunne]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for mentioning her interest in encouraging the supply of renewable energy to Ministry of Defence bases throughout the country as well as in her constituency. The matter that she has raised is the responsibility of the Under-Secretary of State for Defence, my hon. Friend the Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murrison), but I am sure that one of us will be happy to meet her as soon as possible.

[Mark Menzies (Fylde) (Con)]

3. What discussions he has had with his counterparts in partner nations on improving the prospects of future Typhoon exports.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mr Philip Dunne)]

Since the Government took office in 2010, they have reversed a decade of neglect in support for defence exports. Ministers from the Prime Minister down have taken a particularly proactive lead among our partners in encouraging Typhoon exports. Eurofighter Typhoon continues to attract global interest through active participation in a number of campaigns, which are likely to come to a head over the next couple of years. Last week, when I met counterparts from our three partner nations, we agreed to refocus our collaborative programme to improve Typhoon’s export prospects in those campaigns around the world.

[Mark Menzies]

Does the Minister believe that to keep the Typhoon production line running in the future, the Eurofighter consortium must be much more agile in its corporate governance in order to help export potential?