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Defence

In large part, we have had a good and constructive debate, and despite the political hyperbole, there is a greater consensus on defence than is sometimes apparent. I wish to start, as did the Secretary of State, by paying tribute to our brave servicemen who have lost their lives in Afghanistan in recent days. They are Senior Aircraftman Luke Southgate of II Squadron RAF Regiment, Rifleman Martin Kinggett of 4th Battalion The Rifles, and Sergeant Paul Fox of 28 Engineer Regiment. We are enormously in their debt for their bravery, their dedication and their professionalism, and they are fundamentally serving our national interest. The hon. Member for Woodspring (Dr. Fox) started the debate by saying that 9/11 had fundamentally changed the security environment in which we live, work and operate, and I agreed with him on that, but I did not agree with much else of what he said. He made the erroneous allegation that the Government have not matched those changes with funding. I could go through the record, including the 10 per cent. real-terms increase that the Government have delivered to defence over the past 12 and a half to 13 years, but for the Opposition's critique to carry conviction and credibility, they need to face up to the challenge that they are not committed to spending one penny extra on defence compared to this Government—