Mentions:
1: Lord Douglas-Miller (Con - Life peer) comes in primarily, but not exclusively, through Dover, which is brought in by a van and a driver from Poland - Speech Link
2: Lord Douglas-Miller (Con - Life peer) I absolutely agree that anybody from Romania or Poland, or indeed any other country in the world, has - Speech Link
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had recent discussions with his Polish counterpart on cases outstanding of children abducted from the UK to Poland.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The Government takes international parental child abduction (IPCA) very seriously and I [Minister Docherty] recognise the distress of all those affected. Ministers and senior officials raise IPCA with the Polish authorities at every appropriate opportunity. I raised the issue with my Polish counterpart, Minister Arkadiusz Mularczyk, most recently on 7 September. The former Foreign Secretary also raised the issue in his dialogue with Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau, on 5 July, and the Minister for International Affairs (MoJ) raised IPCA with Deputy Justice Minister Sebastien Kaleta on 18 September. We will continue to engage with representatives of the new Polish government on this issue, once formed.
Mentions:
1: None These include: plans for sabotage activities against military aid for Ukraine in Germany and in Poland - Speech Link
2: None As the Prime Minister said in Poland last month, we are at a turning point for European security. - Speech Link
3: Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Con - Life peer) honourable friend the Home Secretary pointed out in the other place that the Prime Minister said in Poland - Speech Link
Asked by: John McDonnell (Independent - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the press notice entitled PM to announce largest-ever military aid package to Ukraine on visit to Poland, published on 23 April 2024, whether the package of equipment will include FV107 Scimitar vehicles.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The military aid package announced on 23 April 2024 does include FV107 Scimitar vehicles.
Asked by: Tobias Ellwood (Conservative - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the breakdown is of armed forces capabilities deployed to Poland as part of NATO exercise Steadfast Defender 24.
Answered by James Heappey
STEADFAST DEFENDER 24 will see the British Army deploy two brigade combat teams and a 3* corps headquarters to Poland, as part of Exercises BRILLANT JUMP, POLISH DRAGON, and IMMEDIATE RESPONSE. This equates to around 4,000 personnel and 2,000 pieces of equipment across the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, 7th Light Mechanised Brigade Combat Team as the core of the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (Land), and 12th Armoured Brigade Combat Team. Across Europe, an additional 3,500 theatre enablement personnel will deploy to enable port operations, cross continent force flow, and sustainment of UK forces for the duration of the exercises. There are no maritime or air capabilities deployed to Poland as part of STEADFAST DEFENDER 24.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent discussions he has had with his international counterparts on continuing military support to Ukraine.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The UK has increased our military support to Ukraine this year by £500 million to £3 billion, and pledged to maintain that support until the end of this decade, or longer if required. The Foreign Secretary is in constant contact with international partners making the case for allies to increase their military support to Ukraine. His recent international engagement includes, for example: a visit to Ukraine on 2 May; meetings with NATO Foreign Ministers, G7 Foreign Ministers and his counterparts in the USA in April; Germany in March; and Poland, Bulgaria, France, G20 Foreign Ministers and the UN in February.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour (Co-op) - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2024 to Question 10764, how many times British armed forces personnel have taken part in (a) bilateral and (b) multinational training exercises with (i) Germany, (ii) France, (iii) Italy, (iv) Poland, (v) the Netherlands, (vi) USA and (vii) Spain.
Answered by James Heappey
The information requested is not held centrally. The following has been compiled from sources across the single-Services. It is a ‘best estimate’ based on the available information.
Year | Bilateral | RN | Army | RAF | Multinational | RN | Army* | RAF |
2016 | Germany | 6 | 0 | 0 | Germany | 2 |
| 0 |
France | 4 | 4 | 0 | France | 6 |
| 0 | |
Italy | 0 | 1 | 0 | Italy | 3 |
| 0 | |
Poland | 0 | 0 | 0 | Poland | 1 |
| 0 | |
The Netherlands | 0 | 0 | 0 | The Netherlands | 2 |
| 0 | |
USA | 7 | 15 | 0 | USA | 7 |
| 3 | |
Spain | 0 | 2 | 0 | Spain | 2 |
| 0 | |
2017 | Germany | 1 | 0 | 0 | Germany | 2 |
| 0 |
France | 1 | 4 | 0 | France | 9 |
| 0 | |
Italy | 0 | 1 | 0 | Italy | 1 |
| 0 | |
Poland | 0 | 1 | 0 | Poland | 1 |
| 0 | |
The Netherlands | 2 | 0 | 0 | The Netherlands | 3 |
| 0 | |
USA | 3 | 15 | 0 | USA | 12 |
| 3 | |
Spain | 2 | 2 | 0 | Spain | 0 |
| 0 | |
2018 | Germany | 1 | 2 | 0 | Germany | 2 |
| 0 |
France | 4 | 7 | 0 | France | 6 |
| 0 | |
Italy | 1 | 1 | 0 | Italy | 4 |
| 0 | |
Poland | 0 | 1 | 0 | Poland | 2 |
| 0 | |
The Netherlands | 0 | 2 | 0 | The Netherlands | 1 |
| 0 | |
USA | 5 | 19 | 0 | USA | 9 |
| 3 | |
Spain | 1 | 2 | 0 | Spain | 4 |
| 0 | |
2019 | Germany | 0 | 1 | 0 | Germany | 2 |
| 0 |
France | 5 | 9 | 0 | France | 6 |
| 0 | |
Italy | 0 | 1 | 0 | Italy | 3 |
| 0 | |
Poland | 2 | 1 | 0 | Poland | 1 |
| 0 | |
The Netherlands | 1 | 1 | 0 | The Netherlands | 5 |
| 0 | |
USA | 10 | 20 | 0 | USA | 9 |
| 4 | |
Spain | 1 | 2 | 0 | Spain | 3 |
| 0 | |
2020 | Germany | 0 | 0 | 0 | Germany | 0 |
| 0 |
France | 2 | 0 | 0 | France | 3 |
| 0 | |
Italy | 0 | 0 | 0 | Italy | 0 |
| 0 | |
Poland | 0 | 0 | 0 | Poland | 0 |
| 0 | |
The Netherlands | 2 | 0 | 0 | The Netherlands | 3 |
| 0 | |
USA | 6 | 0 | 0 | USA | 7 |
| 6 | |
Spain | 0 | 0 | 0 | Spain | 0 |
| 0 | |
2021 | Germany | 0 | 2 | 0 | Germany | 3 |
| 3 |
France | 5 | 6 | 0 | France | 7 |
| 3 | |
Italy | 1 | 1 | 0 | Italy | 3 |
| 4 | |
Poland | 0 | 1 | 0 | Poland | 2 |
| 0 | |
The Netherlands | 2 | 0 | 0 | The Netherlands | 6 |
| 1 | |
USA | 11 | 21 | 0 | USA | 17 |
| 8 | |
Spain | 0 | 2 | 0 | Spain | 3 |
| 1 | |
2022 | Germany | 0 | 2 | 0 | Germany | 1 |
| 4 |
France | 1 | 7 | 0 | France | 4 |
| 3 | |
Italy | 3 | 0 | 0 | Italy | 1 |
| 3 | |
Poland | 0 | 0 | 0 | Poland | 1 |
| 1 | |
The Netherlands | 0 | 1 | 0 | The Netherlands | 3 |
| 2 | |
USA | 3 | 22 | 0 | USA | 13 |
| 12 | |
Spain | 0 | 3 | 0 | Spain | 3 |
| 2 | |
2023 | Germany | 0 | 4 | 0 | Germany | 2 |
| 2 |
France | 1 | 7 | 0 | France | 9 |
| 3 | |
Italy | 0 | 1 | 0 | Italy | 1 |
| 1 | |
Poland | 0 | 0 | 0 | Poland | 1 |
| 1 | |
The Netherlands | 0 | 1 | 0 | The Netherlands | 3 |
| 1 | |
USA | 5 | 22 | 0 | USA | 15 |
| 10 | |
Spain | 0 | 3 | 0 | Spain | 2 |
| 2 |
* Due to the way in which Army data is held, multinational involvement cannot be readily separated from bilateral. Many of the bilateral exercises listed will be multinational, but the data capture only shows the primary sponsor of the exercise and not the additional participants. Army data from 2020 has been discounted due to uncertainty as to which exercises did or did not take place due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Independent - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the press notice entitled PM to announce largest-ever military aid package to Ukraine on visit to Poland, published on 23 April 2024, whether the package of equipment will include (a) 152 and (b) 155 mm ammunition.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The military aid package announced on 23 April 2024 does not include 152mm or 155mm artillery ammunition.
However, more than £245 million worth of artillery ammunition will be supplied to Ukraine this financial year.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Independent - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the press notice entitled PM to announce largest-ever military aid package to Ukraine on visit to Poland, published on 23 April 2024, whether the package of equipment will include artillery.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The military aid package announced on 23 April 2024 includes the AS90 self-propelled 155mm gun.
The package also includes more than 400 armoured, protected, and all-terrain vehicles, more than 1,600 munitions in the form of both strike and air defence missiles, as well as additional Storm Shadow long-range precision-guided missiles.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Independent - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the press notice entitled PM to announce largest-ever military aid package to Ukraine on visit to Poland, published on 23 April 2024, whether the package of equipment will include remote Minefield Breaching Systems.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The military aid package announced on 23 April 2024 does not include remote Minefield Breaching Systems.
The package does include more than 400 armoured, protected, and all-terrain vehicles, more than 1,600 munitions in the form of both strike and air defence missiles, as well as additional Storm Shadow long-range precision-guided missiles.