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Defence in the UK

I would like to begin by offering my deepest condolences to the families of the 10 service personnel who died over the summer in Afghanistan. We owe them, and all those who have lost their lives in conflict, a huge debt of gratitude. As the House will know, there have been changes to the Defence ministerial team over the last week. I am very sorry that my right hon. Friend the Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Des Browne) and my hon. Friend the Member for Halton (Derek Twigg) are leaving the Department. They were both dedicated and experienced individuals, with whom I enjoyed working; they made a huge contribution and I shall miss working with them. That said, we have a new Secretary of State and two new Ministers, whom I am very much looking forward to working with on the challenges that lie ahead. The Secretary of State has asked me to offer his apologies to the House for not being here today. He is making his first foray into international defence diplomacy at the NATO ministerial working group in Bucharest. Our focus is understandably and rightly overseas, but we should never forget the enormous contribution the armed forces make at home. I welcome the opportunity to put the spotlight on defence in the UK. On my visits to military bases around the UK, I have seen for myself the pride of our people in what they do. They know they make a difference, and the public know they do as well. According to the latest polling, 79 per cent. of people think the military are a force for good in the world. We need to make sure that this good will is backed up by a level of recognition and reward that stands comparison with the sacrifices that they make on our behalf. Defence is, obviously, focused on delivering security. With the current attention on Iraq and Afghanistan, it is easy to forget the many other ways our armed forces provide security through operations at home, such as counter-terrorism and unexploded ordinance disposal. The military provides round-the-clock military bomb disposal teams ready to defuse threats anywhere in the UK, and crack Navy and Air Force search-and-rescue crews stand ready to respond to distress calls at a moment's notice—in 2007 alone, they responded to a total of 1,793 call-outs. Over the course of the last year, Royal Navy fishery protection vessels conducted 1,311 boardings while the RAF maintained the security of UK airspace every hour of every day without failure. Whatever they are asked to do, they do it. Those conducting ongoing home operations deserve our recognition and the nation's thanks. When it comes to our defence industry, I can say with absolute certainty that our armed forces stay world class because we have a world-class UK defence industry behind them. The purpose of our defence industry must first and foremost be to deliver capability to the front line, and we are proud of the partnership—in some cases the deepening partnership—that we have with industry to achieve that.