Oral Answers to Questions

Sarah Smith Excerpts

Monday 1st June 2026 Commons Chamber

[John Healey]

The hon. Gentleman has a brass neck. There is no recognition of the fact that we are increasing defence spending by a record amount since the end of the cold war, no recognition that this year the defence budget will be £11 billion greater than in his last year in government, and no recognition that there are contracts in place, including the AUKUS pillar II contract, that we have signed and that he did not sign when he was the Minister responsible.

[Sarah Smith (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

T2. I welcome the Government’s commitment to defence procurement that supports British jobs. However, Mr Speaker, tens of thousands of jobs in Lancashire are reliant on fast jet production. Britain needs new jets, and we need to maintain the skills for the next generation of jets. Will the Secretary of State commit to protecting jobs, maintaining those critical skills and providing the jets we need for our country’s defence by ordering British-made Typhoons for the RAF?

[The Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry (Luke Pollard)]

This Government are proud to support Typhoons. We have announced a £500 million upgrade for Typhoons, including new radar, and we have helped secure the deal to export 20 Typhoon jets to Türkiye. We are continuing to support the brilliant jobs in Typhoon production at Warton and Samlesbury and across the United Kingdom, and we are expanding into more autonomous craft as well, supporting the Typhoon for many years to come.