Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment has he made of the requirement to replace the minehunting capability of HMS Middleton in the Arabian Gulf.

We inherited a plan from the previous government for a drawdown of crewed minehunting capabilities.

The Royal Navy remains committed to sustaining mine countermeasures capability in the Arabian Gulf. The UK is transitioning to modern autonomous minehunting systems under the Mine Hunting Capability (MHC) programme, and operational requirements in the region are kept under constant review.