Oral Answers to Questions

Vikki Slade Excerpts

Thursday 24th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Ms Oppong-Asare]

I thank the hon. Member for his work in this space, because I know he has done a lot of work on this issue. We are constantly looking at the risk register and updating it, and a lot of work has been done. Alongside that, we are carrying out a resilience review. As he rightly pointed out, we need to work across a wide range of sectors to make sure that wider society plays a greater role in this matter, and the work that I have been doing has involved meeting businesses, voluntary organisations and vulnerable groups to make sure that the issues are reflected. We will make sure that we share the lessons learned with the House in due course, and I have also engaged with parliamentarians on this issue.

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

In the last few weeks, Dorset has been ravaged by wildfires, especially Upton heath and Canford heath in my local area, where more than 130 acres are gone. I was blown away by the work of the fire crews from Dorset, Wiltshire, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Will the Minister thank the fire services for their combined work, but also acknowledge that there needs to be a review of funding for emergency services to ensure that they are consistently able to protect us in the face of climate change? I ask her for that assurance.

EU Trading Relationship

Vikki Slade Excerpts

Thursday 24th April 2025 Westminster Hall

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

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Jeremy. More and more people across the UK now recognise—even my dad, I suspect, like that of the hon. Member for Bournemouth East (Tom Hayes)—that leaving the EU has come at the cost of making us all poorer.

My constituent, Alistair, rightly points out:

“There has never been a comprehensive, independent and trusted review of the full costs of Brexit”—

but if there were, I suspect the findings would be deeply sobering. In an increasingly unstable global landscape shaped by shifting US politics and rising tariffs, it is more important than ever that we secure strong, stable trading links with Europe. A recent YouGov poll of over 15,000 people showed that nearly half want trade with the EU as a top priority, compared with just 22% who prioritise America.

One area that deserves urgent focus is defence, and I declare an interest as a proud member of the all-party parliamentary group for the armed forces and a member of the armed forces parliamentary scheme. We cannot ignore the growing pressure to spend more on defence, especially as the US steps away from NATO. But if we are going to invest more, let us do so by working with trusted European partners, not by handing more contracts to US defence giants. We must ensure that spending supports British jobs and industries, and that we make it easier for the EU to invest in our market-leading UK businesses like those based in my constituency, such as Atlas Elektronik, and those across Dorset, such as BattleLab.

Another area is the veterinary agreement. That gap in policy is having a serious impact on UK farmers, already reeling from the consequences of the Conservatives’ botched trade deal and this Government’s damaging and shortsighted budget changes. Without proper arrangements for animal health and streamlined border checks, exports have dropped. Yet research from Aston University shows that a veterinary agreement with the EU could boost exports by at least 22.5%. That is confirmed by major retailers including Sainsbury’s, Lidl and Marks & Spencer, who have called for a veterinary deal, writing in the Financial Times that red tape is driving up the costs of food and drink. We have heard Ministers express support, but no progress. That must change. It is time to rebuild our relationship with the EU. Let us put forward a modern trade deal that strengthens co-operation on defence, food, farming and a much-needed youth mobility scheme and brings us into a customs union—even if, for political reasons, it needs to have another name. We owe it to our businesses, farmers and young people and the future of the UK. Let us be honest about what has gone wrong and start putting it right.

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.