Martin Vickers
Main Page: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Brigg and Immingham)Department Debates - View all Martin Vickers's debates with the Cabinet Office
(10 years, 7 months ago)
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The Prime Minister
It is the right thing to do because what is most important is to make sure that our armed forces have the best equipment of any armed forces anywhere in the world. I have been out to Afghanistan every year since 2006, sometimes twice a year, and I always ask the same question: “Do you have the equipment you need? Is there anything else that you want?” It is under this Government that we have seen real improvements in equipment. Yes, we will have an 82,000 Regular Army. We will also have a larger reserve force, and we are recruiting for that actively, and we will have armed forces and defence equipment that this country can be very proud of.
Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)
Following last week’s excellent news of the Siemens development in Hull, it is vital that we move quickly with projects planned for the south bank of the Humber. Does my right hon. Friend share my view that all parties must work together to make sure that the Humber does indeed become the green energy capital of the UK?
The Prime Minister
I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. The announcement by Siemens is a huge step forward, because I think it will bring an enormous amount of industry in its wake in terms of supply and component manufacture. We now need to make sure that the colleges are training up apprentices, and that UK Trade & Investment is working to attract other businesses to the area. As he knows, agreements are still needed in other parts of Humberside to make sure that all the necessary developments go ahead.