Speeches by Healey.

“One of our Ministers will meet the hon. Gentleman.”

“Yes.”

“We must spend more, we must spend faster—and we will, as the Prime Minister has said. On our nuclear deterrent, I am proud that this Government are putting £6 billion, in this Parliament, into increasing the productivity of our submarine building, to raise production levels and to increase the pace of submarine buildin…”

“First, we are directing defence investment first to British firms that increase British jobs and increase apprenticeships, skills and opportunities for young people. Secondly, we are opening up direct entry recruitment to the armed forces for those with cyber-skills, and the first cohort has already been recruited. The…”

“The hon. Gentleman has a brass neck. There is no recognition of the fact that we are increasing defence spending by a record amount since the end of the cold war, no recognition that this year the defence budget will be £11 billion greater than in his last year in government, and no recognition that there are contracts…”

“The hon. Gentleman may not have heard me when I answered before, but I can say to him very clearly that the Prime Minister is determined that we publish the defence investment plan before the NATO summit.”

“I can indeed. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend’s support for the successful Northumbria bid in the first round of the VALOUR funding, which will help cover her constituency. [Interruption.] Given that one in eight of our ex-forces personnel are female veterans, we will ensure that the veterans strategy reflects those co…”

“With deep regret, I should inform the House that a training accident occurred in northern Iraq yesterday in which a member of service personnel from the British Army died. The family have been informed, and have asked for a period of grace before further details are released. I know that the thoughts of the House will …”

“With all due respect—and I have a great deal of respect for my hon. Friend—the biggest increase in defence spending since the end of the cold war is hardly the plodding path he describes. I welcome his Committee’s inquiry into defence investment and its report. I know that Gordon Brown, the former Prime Minister who ha…”

“I remember that for at least six months after the election, the hon. Lady and her party were urging us to raise defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2030. We have done better than that—we are hitting 2.6% next year, three years before anyone expected, including her party. We will go further, and I will look for her suppo…”

“As I mentioned in a previous answer, we are indeed looking to participate in, and be able to take advantage of, the European Union’s loan scheme for Ukraine. That is a way in which we could accelerate getting good kit into the hands of the Ukrainians and ensure that British-made kit and British firms can make a big con…”

“This Government are making the biggest increase in defence investment since the end of the cold war. This year alone, we have more than £11 billion more in the defence budget than in the last year of the previous Government. As the Prime Minister said in February, “we are going to have to spend more faster”, and we wil…”

“The hon. Gentleman makes a really important argument. It was captured in the strategic defence review, and has been put into practice since. Within the last two weeks, I was with our troops in Estonia, close to the Russian frontline, and I saw exactly how our UK forces, alongside the Estonians, are learning the lessons…”

“The hon. Gentleman is entirely wrong in his assertion and his facts. With the Attorney General, I led a meeting of the 10 joint expeditionary force nations’ legal military experts, in which we set out, discussed and shared the legal basis on which, individually and together, we can interdict and seize Russian shadow sh…”

“On the contrary, this is deterrence in action. I am surprised that the hon. Gentleman does not recognise that we supported the French operation and were proud to do so. Defence stands ready to lead on our own interdiction, but the impact of what we are ready to do, and what we have signalled to Putin, is that he is hav…”

“I completely agree with my hon. Friend. We are doing more to expose the threats, and will do more still. The Russian threat against the UK is real and rising, and it is important for the public and Parliament to understand that. That is why I revealed last year that the Russian spy ship Yantar was monitoring our critic…”

“I agree with my hon. Friend that we are right to seek a closer relationship with the European Union, which has an important contribution to make, from within a “NATO first” framework. That is why, last year, we signed the security and defence partnership with the European Union. The Prime Minister has said that we are …”

“Russia poses a significant and persistent threat to UK and Atlantic security. Putin’s illegal war against Ukraine is now in its fifth year, and Russia conducts hostile cyber-activity, spreads disinformation and carries out sabotage against the UK and many other NATO allies almost daily. European security starts in Ukra…”

“It will be before the Bill is due for its next stage in Parliament, which is Committee stage in this House.”

“We are urging both sides to scale down their activity and respect the ceasefire so that the current ceasefire agreement in the wider middle east can be translated into a permanent peace, including between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah.”