Speeches by Healey.

“On the contrary, the strategic defence review placed greater emphasis on the need to step up our homeland security and defence. That includes the critical undersea infrastructure on which we depend.”

“I agree that the strategy is key; my hon. Friend is entirely right. This capital is matched by the biggest increase in defence spending from public investment and the public purse since the end of the cold war. We are ensuring that it leverages in not just additional sources of private investment, but record foreign di…”

“I am very happy to look at the hon. Lady’s Bill, but in recent weeks the Prime Minister has reasserted exactly the basis on which any UK military forces are committed into conflict.”

“With all eyes on the middle east, this House expects, and I am determined to ensure, that we will continue to confront the growing threats in the High North, to fulfil our obligations to NATO and to step up support for Ukraine. I can confirm today that over the last month, we have delivered to Ukraine 3,500 drones, 18,…”

“As I have said to the House more than once, and as the Chief of the Defence Staff said on the BBC the weekend before last, the day the deployment was put to Ministers as an option, in the circumstances of conflict that were changing at the time, we adapted our actions to protect British lives, to protect British allies…”

“We are working flat out to conclude the defence investment plan. The hon. Gentleman was the Minister for Defence Procurement who left defence programmes overcommitted, underfunded and unsuited to the threats and conflicts that we face, so he will be aware of the scale and significance of the challenge that we are deter…”

“British bases will be used by American aircraft for fully lawful and defensive purposes. That is spelled out in the agreement that we have with the US, and it is to destroy Iran’s missile bases, which hold such indiscriminate risk and threat to our personnel and allies in the region.”

“We will take the action we need to defend British interests, personnel and civilians. The right hon. Gentleman is right to say that our personnel are at risk—as he puts it, they are in the firing line. I am incredibly proud of the work they are doing not just to protect our bases and each other, but to protect our alli…”

“We have taken that video down through an abundance of caution. The last thing that I and the British Government would want to do is put Ukrainians at risk; we would not allow that to happen. I want to ensure that the steps we take in our support of Ukraine—just like those we take in support of our allies in the middle …”

“My hon. Friend will have heard me set out in my statement, and in response to other questions, the principles on which the decisions that we have taken are based. They will continue to inform any future decision that we take, as circumstances in this conflict may change.”

“The hon. Gentleman will note that we have only the reports from the Iranian regime about the strike. He will be aware that the US is looking into this at present.”

“I do indeed. That contract will not just secure well over 3,000 jobs for the future, but will create opportunities for many more in the years ahead. It is not just a contract to build new medium helicopters in Yeovil; Leonardo has committed to make Yeovil and the UK its global centre for the development and export of m…”

“The last thing the right hon. Lady will find me doing is commenting on American political affairs. What she will find me doing as Defence Secretary is putting the protection of British people—military and civilians—bases and allies front and centre.”

“I am aware of the 2024 report that the right hon. Gentleman cites, and we are aware of those risks. I say to the House that the right hon. Gentleman puts his 21 years as a Member of this House to good effect in the comments that he makes this afternoon.”

“I do agree with my hon. Friend; he speaks with the authority of someone who was serving at the time in 2010. In that first year, the Tories cut £2 billion from the defence budget, and in their first five years they cut £12 billion from defence. They underfunded and hollowed out our armed forces over 14 years.”

“The hon. Gentleman is a military man by experience. He will understand the nature of the requests that nations make of each other, the agreements that they put in place and how those work. Accessing, basing, overflights—that is exactly the request that we had when it was clear that the Iranian response to the first wav…”

“I am not going to announce the deployments of British forces in advance. The hon. Member is right to point to the balance of threats and responsibilities that we have to manage. We are doing that, and we will always fulfil our NATO commitments.”

“Our first priority is British citizens in the region. That is why my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and her team are working so hard to advise and help Britain bring Brits back. My priority is to protect our forces personnel and ensure they can play their role in protecting our allies and British citizens in t…”

“I do agree with my hon. Friend, and we are investing in our Navy, just as we are increasing defence investment across the board, including in the munitions that we need when we are faced with conflicts like this.”

“I am always interested in ways of getting more funding into defence. That is one of the reasons that I have laid such stress not just on the record increase in defence investment that the Government are making from the public purse, but on ways that we can leverage that with investment from private sources. That is why…”