Business of the House

Patricia Gibson Excerpts

Thursday 20th July 2023 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

My hon. Friend’s question follows that asked by the hon. Member for Huddersfield (Mr Sheerman), about trust in democracy and our institutions. That is incredibly important. Whatever our differences and whichever side of the House we sit on, we should all be able to agree that trust and confidence in those systems are vital. That is why standards and having strong, democratic institutions matter.

We have had over 22 police investigations into the SNP. The original £600,000-plus that went missing has now been exceeded by the £800,000 in police time that has been spent on those investigations. It is a very sad and sorry state. Whatever shape future investigations take, I hope they are resolved swiftly, because this has been a sorry chapter.

[Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP)]

For the first time since 1961, UK Government debt has risen above 100% of GDP, with the Office for National Statistics revealing that net debt reached £2.6 trillion as of the end of May. In that context, the cost of replacing Trident could rise to between £287 million and £639 million. Given the huge pressure on public finances, will the Leader of the House make a statement, which I know my constituents in North Ayrshire and Arran will be very interested in, setting out whether she believes a blank cheque for replacing Trident is either acceptable or sustainable?

[Penny Mordaunt]

In reply to the hon. Member for Edinburgh North and Leith (Deidre Brock), I have already given the SNP a lesson in balancing the books. I do not think this Government should take any lessons from the SNP Government, who have nearly £2 billion between what they spend and what is in their budget. In addition to understanding the cost and price of everything, it is also important for us, in this place, to understand the value of things. Trident is a nuclear deterrent. There is no blank cheque for that nuclear deterrent, but it is there doing a vital job. If hon. Members cannot see the merits of us having a deterrent at this moment, I do not know that they will ever be able to grasp that.

Any arguments about the defence of this nation relate to our commitment to NATO. The SNP purports to support that commitment, but having a nuclear deterrent is pretty fundamental to being a member of NATO. If all those arguments have failed in the past, let me try a new one: I am sure that among the hon. Lady’s constituents she will have a submariner. She should ask that submariner why they are prepared to spend 10 years of their life underwater, in the service of this country. These are not trivial matters and she needs to grasp the reality of the situation facing us.