---

Defence Industry (Lancashire)

No, because I anticipate that the hon. Gentleman wants to ask why we have excluded Trident. We have excluded it for the very good reason that we believe that decisions have to be taken, unlike his party, which thinks that a Trident successor can be magicked up in a few seconds. It cannot be; it is a long-term programme and a strategic issue. We have made up our minds, as indeed have the Government. To be fair, the hon. Member for South Ribble pointed out that the Labour and Conservative parties share common ground on the need to replace the independent Trident nuclear deterrent. To exclude other programmes would be to undermine the whole purpose of the strategic defence review. There has not been such a review since 1998. When I first broached the idea, I thought that senior military commanders would object and say that it would mean more cuts. However, they said that we need a defence review because there is a new world order that requires us to step back and look at the big picture. We need to consider what threats we face, and, therefore, what force structures we require and what equipment we require to support them. As you were not here earlier, Mr. Key, perhaps I can repeat what the Secretary of State said in a written answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Woodspring as recently as 8 March:""We have been very clear since the publication of the Defence Green Paper that everything other than Trident is included in the Strategic Defence Review. But unless the review takes us in a very radical new direction, aircraft carriers are likely to remain critical elements of our force structure."—[Official Report, 8 March 2010; Vol. 507, c. 20W.]" That is Labour's position. The Conservative position was stated on 1 March:""We have always made very clear our arguments about seaborne air power projection. It would be perfectly reasonable to expect the carrier programme to continue under another Government, unless there were strong reasons in a strategic defence review for it not to."—[Official Report, 1 March 2010; Vol. 506, c. 673.]" The position is identical. If the hon. Member for South Ribble persists in spreading the lie that the Conservative party has a different position from his party, he will do a disfavour to himself and to those he claims to speak up for, namely the highly skilled employees of the aerospace industry on whom our armed forces depend. I urge him not to do so. I make it clear that the Conservative party is committed to a vibrant defence industrial base. I put on the record what my hon. Friend the Member for Woodspring said on 8 February in a speech at the Royal United Services Institute:""In order to ensure we are able to respond to rapidly changing threats we must have a vibrant defence industrial base. Without it we would have no operational sovereignty—thereby threatening our national sovereignty."" Our position could not be clearer. We are not believers in buying off the shelf, which would mean buying American. As I said to the Minister, that would mean ceasing to be a partner and becoming a supplicant. There is common ground in wanting a vibrant defence industrial base in the United Kingdom. In the launch book for the new trade organisation, AeroSpace Defence Security, which replaced the Society of British Aerospace Companies and the Defence Manufacturers Association, the Leader of the Opposition stated:""I am delighted to welcome the arrival of ADS to combine the interests of the Aerospace, Defence and Security sectors. Together, these industries harness some of the best of the nation's high-tech skills to develop world-leading technologies for military and civil applications. I am committed to the creation of a vibrant and diversified British economy where ADS member companies can flourish, continuing their proud record of contributing to Britain's prosperity and its security, and my colleagues join me in wishing you every possible success."" I do not think there is anything between the parties on what they want to do. The hon. Member for South Ribble singled out a quotation from the Lancashire Evening Post in the leaflet he referred to. To ensure greater accuracy, I have obtained a copy of the letter that I sent to the industry on 16 September. It stated that the shadow Chancellor's comments""were not part of his prepared speech but made in a Q&A session at a Spectator conference, when George was asked if the Conservatives felt able to undertake an SDR whilst in Opposition. Naturally, he highlighted the severely limited access which the Opposition has to MoD documents and accounts without which an SDR cannot be undertaken. When pressed on the material to which access would be required George mentioned a number of factors, including commercial procurement contracts, and listed a number of programmes as examples."" My hon. Friend did not single out any programme to be axed. I put that firmly on the record. This great industry is one of Britain's huge success stories. Lancashire, along with other parts of the country, has a proud tradition of pre-eminence in the aerospace industry. We all wish those involved in the industry in the area continuing success not only in delivering high quality kit for our armed forces, but in contributing to the defence of these islands and the United Kingdom's wider interests around the world. As the hon. Member for Cheadle rightly said—I said I would come back to this point—we face an economic sandstorm as a result of the Prime Minister's complete and abject mismanagement of the economy, both in his current role and as Chancellor of the Exchequer. He was not the golden boy of the Treasury; his judgment resulted in our selling off the gold reserves at rock-bottom prices, which led to the destruction of the pensions industry. The dreams of millions of our fellow citizens were destroyed in the process. The Prime Minister has never properly funded the armed forces to do the job that is required of them, and there is no doubt that the incoming Government will be faced with an economic wasteland that he created. He inherited a strong economy from my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (Mr. Clarke), but he destroyed it and saddled this nation with debt. Some very hard decisions will have to be made, but as I have said, the first duty of Government is the defence of the realm. We face a very uncertain and volatile world and this is no time to be receding. If this country wishes to maintain its role in the world, ways have to be found to ensure that we can continue to bring our national influence to bear on the world stage, because I think we have something to contribute as a nation.