Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to achieve the target of two per cent of GDP allocated to defence without including items hitherto borne (a) by the Secret Vote and (b) on other budgets of other Government departments; and if he will make a statement.

As confirmed in the summer budget, the Government is committed to meeting the properly measured NATO pledge to spend 2% of national income on defence every year of this decade. This will include public spending that supports the Ministry of Defence and the contribution made by the secret intelligence agencies.

The UK's returns to NATO have historically included spending from other Government departments, and NATO asks allies to include all spending that contributes to delivering defence.