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Written Question
Shipbuilding
Monday 20th September 2021

Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

What assessment he has made of the potential effect of the creation of the National Shipbuilding Office on (a) the number of ships being built in the UK and (b) the amount of (i) British technology, (ii) components and (iii) steel in those ships.

Answered by Ben Wallace

The National Shipbuilding Office will be responsible for driving forward one of the Prime Minister’s key domestic priorities across Government. It will report directly to the Shipbuilding Tsar and will oversee all of the UK Government’s interests in UK shipbuilding.

Our National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh, which will be published later this year, will set out our approach in more detail.


Written Question
Navy: South China Sea
Wednesday 31st October 2018

Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many freedom of navigation exercises were conducted in the South China Sea by the Royal Navy in (a) 2017 and (b) 2018; and how many exercises his Department has planned for 2019.

Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton

There were no maritime deployments to the region in 2017. HMS Sutherland, HMS Albion and HMS Argyll deployed to East Asia in 2018. HMS Montrose is scheduled to deploy to the region in 2019. The deployments so far have involved a mix of bilateral defence engagement events with regional partners and allies, bilateral and multilateral training and exercises, and activity in support of UNSCR and the maintenance of global norms of behaviour.

During their deployments in East Asia, HMS Sutherland and HMS Albion have both asserted their rights to freedom of navigation, in accordance with international law. We do not comment on the details of future deployments as to do so would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.


Whenever UK aircraft and vessels navigate through the South China Sea, they do so in full compliance with international law and norms - as they do wherever they are operating in the world. We are committed to upholding the rules-based international system, including the assertion of rights of freedom of navigation and overflight, as they are laid out under the high seas freedoms under Article 87 of UNCLOS.


Written Question
Armed Forces: Deployment
Monday 11th June 2018

Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many armed forces personnel are deployed in EU member states; and where those personnel are so deployed.

Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton

As of 1 June 2018, the numbers of defence personnel deployed on operations in EU member states are:

EU Member State

Operation

Number of Defence personnel

Estonia

UK contribution to NATO’s enhanced Forward Presence

842

Poland

140

Cyprus

UK contribution to the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP)

291

Italy

UK contribution to Operation Sophia, the EU’s counter migrant smuggling operation

5 (excludes personnel deployed off shore)

Romania

UK contribution to NATO’s Air Policing Mission

151

Note: The figures above do not include defence personnel who are stationed in EU Member States, such as those working in international organisations and Embassies or engaged in short term exercises. The figures above represent the Department’s established posts on current operations. At any one time these figures can fluctuate as personnel move in and out of the operational area. Support to NATO’s Air Policing Mission rotates frequently between NATO allies; the figures for Romania represent our contribution as at 1 June 2018.


Written Question
NATO
Thursday 16th March 2017

Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many main battle tanks are deployable on NATO's eastern flank by (a) NATO and (b) Russia.

Answered by Mike Penning

As part of our commitment to the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, details of the UK's Main Battle Tank numbers, and those of NATO Allies who are also signatories to the Treaty, are published on the UK Government website at

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/conventional-armed-forces-in-europe-equipment-holdings-statistics-2017x

I am withholding the information on the deployability of NATO tanks as its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

I cannot comment on the number of Russian tanks deployable to NATO's eastern flank.


Written Question
Russia: Tanks
Wednesday 14th December 2016

Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the capabilities of the new Russian, T-14, Armata main battle tank.

Answered by Mike Penning

The Russian T-14 Armata is an expensive new generation of tank, its technical capabilities are assessed to be a significant improvement over its predecessors.


Written Question
Defence: Expenditure
Monday 12th September 2016

Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what representations he has made to his NATO counterparts on meeting their commitment to spend at least two per cent of GDP on defence.

Answered by Michael Fallon

The UK is proud to be one of five NATO countries that meet the Defence Investment Pledge (DIP) to spend 2% of GDP on Defence. I am pleased with the progress the Alliance has made in reversing the trend in cuts to Defence spending. I reviewed progress with NATO Allies at the Warsaw Summit last July, by which time 16 Allies had increased Defence spending, and eight had committed to reaching the 2% guideline in national plans. Progress will continue to be monitored through regular NATO Defence Ministerial meetings.


Written Question
Islamic State: Military Intervention
Friday 26th February 2016

Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many RAF airstrikes have taken place against Daesh targets in (a) Iraq and (b) Syria since 2 December 2015.

Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons

From 2 December 2015 till 23 February 2016 there have been a total of 362 strikes against Daesh targets. Of these 319 have taken place in Iraq and 43 in Syria.


Written Question
Middle East: Armed Conflict
Monday 18th January 2016

Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the security situation in the Sinai and its impact on the military capability of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons

The Egyptians have been carrying out operations against violent extremists in the Sinai since late 2013. We understand that as part of those operations the Egyptian Armed Forces have destroyed the majority of the tunnels between Sinai and Gaza. This is likely to have reduced significantly the smuggling of weapons to Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza.


Written Question
Mediterranean Sea: Refugees
Monday 13th July 2015

Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many refugees the Royal Navy has rescued in the Mediterranean (a) in total and (b) as a proportion of all those rescued.

Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons

To date, the Royal Navy has rescued 4,747 persons under its Search and Rescue mission in the Mediterranean. The Royal Navy does not record whether a rescued person is a refugee or an economic migrant; this is the responsibility of the receiving nation (in this instance, Italy). The Ministry of Defence does not hold overall statistics of all those rescued at sea by other nations.


Written Question
Gibraltar
Friday 9th January 2015

Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what role his Department is playing in preventing illegal incursion into Gibraltarian waters by Spanish vessels.

Answered by Mark Francois

The Government takes its responsibility for protecting the sovereignty of British Gibraltar Territorial Waters very seriously. The Royal Navy Gibraltar Squadron is at the forefront of our response to Spanish incursions, challenging unlawful actions by Spanish vessels. These challenges and subsequent diplomatic action by the Foreign Office are vital to demonstrating that the UK does not accept the practice, and to preserving our sovereignty over the waters. We shall continue to work with the Government of Gibraltar on this issue.