Ukraine

Vikki Slade Excerpts

Monday 3rd March 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Energy security in Ukraine is hugely important. It is being attacked every day, and that is why it is so vital that we help Ukraine defend its energy arrangements and work for a lasting peace, which will allow it to prosper and thrive as we all want.

[Vikki Slade (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (LD)]

I welcome the Government’s commitment to increasing defence spending, but I am troubled by it being done entirely on the back of the overseas development aid budget. I hope that the Prime Minister will keep an open mind on alternatives.

It was reassuring to see the uplift in air missiles explicitly linked to British jobs in Northern Ireland. What assurance can the Prime Minister give that defence spending on new equipment—be it weapons, kit or tech like drones and IT—will be focused on UK manufacturing and innovation, so boosting British growth?

[The Prime Minister]

I am really pleased that the announcement that we made over the weekend was for jobs in Belfast; that is hugely important. That is the model that we should follow. As we ramp up defence spending and capability, we should be looking at it predominantly supporting UK jobs and the UK economy. The secure, skilled jobs that go with that should be in our economy, because economic security is important in the UK, just as defence and security is important.