Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, in the light of their discussions on a proposed new security and defence pact with the EU, whether they intend to make a financial contribution to the EU as part of any such arrangements; and whether it is their position that there should be a link between those discussions and other aspects of their negotiations to "reset" the UK’s relationship with the EU.

We are ready to negotiate a Security and Defence Partnership agreement with the EU which builds on the EU’s existing partnership agreements with other third countries, while recognising the unique nature of our security relationship. We are ready to look at strengthening our wider cooperation with the EU on defence and security matters, given the shared challenges facing us both, but as we’ve consistently said, we won’t be giving a running commentary on our discussions with the EU.