Oral Answers to Questions

Martin Whitfield Excerpts

Monday 9th July 2018 Commons Chamber

[Thangam Debbonaire (Bristol West) (Lab)]

11. What assessment he has made of the effect on the UK defence and military aerospace industry of the UK leaving the EU.

[Martin Whitfield (East Lothian) (Lab)]

24. What assessment he has made of the effect on the UK defence and military aerospace industry of the UK leaving the EU.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Guto Bebb)]

The Ministry of Defence is working closely with the defence industry to understand the implications and opportunities presented by our departure from the EU. We will continue to work with our allies and partners on the development of the capability that we need to keep us safe, and much of this already takes place outside an EU framework. The UK defence industry is globally competitive and I am confident it will continue to thrive in the future.

--- Later in debate ---

[Guto Bebb]

I do not think that this Government have anything against the aerospace industry. Indeed, the combat air strategy, which was announced by this Department recently, is a sign of our confidence in a world-beating aerospace sector. I will be very pleased when the completion of that work on our new combat air strategy is announced, as it will highlight what this country has to offer. I can assure the hon. Lady that other countries in Europe are very keen to work with us on that combat air strategy.

[Martin Whitfield]

Given the importance of future co-operation with the EU on a multitude of defence and security issues, will the Minister confirm when the Secretary of State intends to hold a bilateral meeting with Federica Mogherini, the EU High Representative?

[Guto Bebb]

I will write to the hon. Gentleman about the meeting between the Secretary of State and the individual from the Commission whom he named. I have to say that I have also been in Brussels recently with regard to this issue. It is clear from our perspective that we want to be involved with European defence firms. We would also like to be involved with the European Defence Agency, but the way in which this has been put together by the Commission makes that very difficult, because the third-country offer being made to the United Kingdom would not be beneficial to our position at this point, so there is still a lot of negotiation to be done. None the less, we are very, very clear that we would like to be involved in these projects.