Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of European NATO's ability to fill capability gaps that would be created by a potential US troop withdrawal from Europe in (a) air defence, (b) intelligence-sharing and (c) rapid deployment forces.

European security is this Government’s foreign and defence priority and NATO is the cornerstone of our defence. The Prime Minister has been clear that European Allies must take greater responsibility for our own security, spending more and producing more. The Ministry of Defence continues its work to ensure the UK and European Allies step up their contribution to NATO as part of our ‘NATO first’ defence strategy.