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Topical question asked in the House of Commons, by Lord Walney (Labour). It was answered on Monday, 13 September 2010 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.


Topical Questions

Question
When the Secretary of State was in opposition, he repeatedly and convincingly made the case that delays to projects ended up costing the UK taxpayer more and put at risk our prized skills base. Will he rule out any such delay in the Trident successor programme or anything else in the strategic defence review?
Answer

I would love to be able to give just such an assurance, but as I pointed out earlier, with a defence budget of £35 billion or so a year, we inherited an overspent equipment programme of £38 billion. The Opposition may not regard that as a priority, but dealing with it is a priority for the coalition Government if we are to put our armed forces and our defence industry on a sound, stable and predictable footing for the future.


Secondary information

Type
Oral question
Reference
515 c598 
Session
2010-12
Oral question type
Supplementary
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Subjects
Trident Armed forces Cadets
Link
View this Topical question on www.publications.parliament.uk