Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what contingency provision his Department has made for changes in the cost to the UK of Lightning II jets as a result of changes in the number of orders for such aircraft worldwide.

We remain committed to the F-35 programme and, as per the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, we plan to buy 138 Lightning aircraft over the life of the programme. The Department has appropriate contingency in place to ensure that the F-35 programme delivers on time and to the approved cost.