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Adjournment debate on Thursday, 22 June 2006, in the House of Commons, led by Adam Ingram. The answering member was Liam Fox.

Defence Policy

Debate on a motion for the adjournment on defence policy.

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
447 c1492-570 
Session
2005-06
Department
Ministry of Defence
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Related items
Proceeding contributions
Speaker | 447 c1516 (Link to this contribution) Before I call the next speaker to address the House, may I remind hon. Members that there is a 15-mi...
Brian Jenkins | 447 c1500 (Link to this contribution) I thank my right hon. Friend for giving way. The defence industrial strategy is long overdue and ver...
Show all contributions (165)
Adam Ingram | 447 c1500-1 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has good knowledge of the subject and raises an issue of concern over whether we have...
Ann Winterton | 447 c1501 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Julian Lewis | 447 c1502 (Link to this contribution) The Minister made much of the commitment in Labour’s manifesto to retain our independent nuclear det...
Adam Ingram | 447 c1502 (Link to this contribution) No. I shall set out the whole of our policy and take it from there. We currently have no requiremen...
Adam Ingram | 447 c1501-2 (Link to this contribution) I am not bidding for that. The hon. Member for Congleton (Ann Winterton) raises an important issue....
Tobias Ellwood | 447 c1501 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman will be Home Secretary next.
Adam Ingram | 447 c1501 (Link to this contribution) I am glad I gave way to the hon. Lady, because she promoted me to Secretary of State. I will keep gi...
Ann Winterton | 447 c1501 (Link to this contribution) I could never be angry with the Secretary of State and am grateful to him for giving way. Before he ...
Adam Ingram | 447 c1501 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady keeps wanting to intervene and will get very angry if I do not give way. I will, but I...
Adam Ingram | 447 c1503 (Link to this contribution) I do not think that my statement could be any clearer, which is why I wanted to set out the policy i...
James Gray | 447 c1503 (Link to this contribution) I am disappointed that instead of answering the perfectly reasonable question about the Government’s...
Adam Ingram | 447 c1503 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman knows as well as I do that it is not in my gift to offer the House a vote; there ...
Robert Flello | 447 c1503 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. Friend give way?
Adam Ingram | 447 c1503-4;447 c1503 (Link to this contribution) I realise that my hon. Friend wants to be helpful—at least I hope that he does—but he must let me re...
Adam Ingram | 447 c1504 (Link to this contribution) Let me first answer the question put by the hon. Member for North Wiltshire (Mr. Gray). I have set o...
Robert Flello | 447 c1504 (Link to this contribution) As my right hon. Friend has recalled our manifesto commitment, perhaps it would be helpful to remind...
Adam Ingram | 447 c1504 (Link to this contribution) I knew that my hon. Friend would be an honourable friend because, like me, he was pleased to be elec...
Adam Ingram | 447 c1503 (Link to this contribution) Well, it seems to me that the hon. Member for Woodspring (Dr. Fox) is asking me something he should ...
Stewart Hosie | 447 c1505 (Link to this contribution) The Minister spoke about retaining the current nuclear deterrent. The Chancellor’s comments about th...
Adam Ingram | 447 c1505 (Link to this contribution) I think that I am right in saying that the hon. Gentleman’s party wants to get out of NATO, never mi...
Jeremy Corbyn | 447 c1504 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister for giving way. In his remarks about a possible replacement for Trident, or a n...
Adam Ingram | 447 c1504-5;447 c1504 (Link to this contribution) I was hoping that my hon. Friend would say that he, like me, was proud to stand as a Labour candidat...
Bob Russell | 447 c1506;447 c1505 (Link to this contribution) The Minister is describing a private finance initiative project. Will there be accommodation in the ...
Adam Ingram | 447 c1505-6;447 c1505 (Link to this contribution) I want to move on. Members know that I do not run away from debate but I have already been speaking ...
Adam Ingram | 447 c1504 (Link to this contribution) I can answer only one question at a time. My hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent, South (Mr. ...
Stewart Hosie | 447 c1504 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Adam Ingram | 447 c1510;447 c1509-10 (Link to this contribution) I think that I set out our future programme: future carriers—plural—the Type 45s, land systems and a...
Liam Fox | 447 c1510 (Link to this contribution) And let us get back to the spin from the Treasury. Not content with confusing the Government over th...
Adam Ingram | 447 c1508-9 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has missed the full explanation on the Sea Harriers. This keeps being raised. The...
Liam Fox | 447 c1509 (Link to this contribution) As ever, the Government, having been in office for nine years, can find nothing better to do than bl...
Tobias Ellwood | 447 c1509 (Link to this contribution) However the Minister dresses it up, there remains a fundamental gap in our air defences. Even when t...
Liam Fox | 447 c1509 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is not only knowledgeable, but has a regular discourse with the Minister in Westminst...
Adam Ingram | 447 c1506 (Link to this contribution) Not in the whole British Army. The figure I mentioned was 2,000. I realise that the hon. Gentleman i...
Adam Ingram | 447 c1506-8;447 c1506-7 (Link to this contribution) I will not even go there. It was great to see the project and the enthusiasm of everyone associated ...
Liam Fox | 447 c1508 (Link to this contribution) Let me start with a quote from 1997:"““A strong defence capability is an essential part of Britain’s...
Brian Jenkins | 447 c1510 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Liam Fox | 447 c1510-1 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to the hon. Gentleman in a moment. Let me turn to the situation in Iraq. Many peopl...
Liam Fox | 447 c1510 (Link to this contribution) Obviously, my right hon. Friend has studiously worked out how Labour’s arithmetic is calculated and ...
Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom | 447 c1510 (Link to this contribution) Will my hon. Friend bear in mind what the Minister just said about the increase in defence expenditu...
Adam Ingram | 447 c1493 (Link to this contribution) There are a number of countries in the south, which is part of phase 3 of the process. Canadian, Aus...
Tobias Ellwood | 447 c1493 (Link to this contribution) I wish to raise that very issue. The subject of today’s debate is the Defence Committee’s fifth repo...
Adam Ingram | 447 c1493 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to the hon. Gentleman, but we had a useful debate yesterday, and he made a very good...
Adam Ingram | 447 c1493-4 (Link to this contribution) I do not see any representative of the Conservative Foreign Office team in opposition to me. The deb...
Adam Ingram | 447 c1492-3 (Link to this contribution) Any debate on defence policy should be grounded in key current operations. I should therefore like t...
Bob Russell | 447 c1493 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman gave the number of countries that are assisting in Afghanistan. How many of...
Adam Ingram | 447 c1494 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to the right hon. and learned Gentleman, but I hope that he will not suggest, as he ...
Adam Ingram | 447 c1494 (Link to this contribution) I agree in part with some of that, but not with the latter part. If anything, there is a greater int...
Marquess of Lothian | 447 c1494 (Link to this contribution) I am very grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for giving way, but I would not presume that he can g...
Adam Ingram | 447 c1495 (Link to this contribution) We did not try to. We decided to continue with it because it was teaching us invaluable lessons, as ...
Nigel Evans | 447 c1495 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister state whether he believes that there are sufficient forces in Afghanistan to deliv...
Adam Ingram | 447 c1495-6 (Link to this contribution) On the latter point, we have been able to equip, train and assist a standing Afghan force that deals...
Liam Fox | 447 c1496 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister for giving way. He will be aware of the deaths of four more American s...
Malcolm Rifkind | 447 c1496 (Link to this contribution) The Minister asked what could be done to make better use of existing resources. Does he not agree th...
Adam Ingram | 447 c1496 (Link to this contribution) Hold on a moment. When demands are made, they have to be set against available resources. That is w...
Jeremy Corbyn | 447 c1498 (Link to this contribution) I am looking forward to hearing what the Minister has to say about the nuclear non-proliferation tre...
Adam Ingram | 447 c1497-8 (Link to this contribution) No. The comprehensive approach that we have adopted in both Iraq and Afghanistan guides much of the ...
Adam Ingram | 447 c1497 (Link to this contribution) That will come, but the point is that they are under two separate command structures because they ar...
Adam Ingram | 447 c1499 (Link to this contribution) I learned a long time ago never to believe what I read in the newspapers, when it is under a glaring...
Adam Ingram | 447 c1498-9 (Link to this contribution) If my hon. Friend cares to hold on, I will deal with that issue in some detail. I turn now to anoth...
Lord Robathan | 447 c1499 (Link to this contribution) I am interested in what the Minister is saying, not least because I know of his commitment to the ar...
Gerald Howarth | 447 c1500 (Link to this contribution) I am extremely grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for giving way. He referred to the written state...
Adam Ingram | 447 c1500 (Link to this contribution) Although I want to make progress, I appreciate the importance of the opinion of my hon. Friend, who ...
Brian Jenkins | 447 c1500 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. Friend give way?
Adam Ingram | 447 c1499 (Link to this contribution) The question of the way in which the overall budget will be developed is part of current discussions...
Harry Cohen | 447 c1511 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has blown his own argument out of the water in a few sentences. First he says tha...
Liam Fox | 447 c1511-2 (Link to this contribution) I was making the point—although not sufficiently clearly for the hon. Gentleman—that a stable and su...
Bob Russell | 447 c1512 (Link to this contribution) When the Conservatives supported the Iraq invasion, did the hon. Gentleman and his colleagues also p...
Liam Fox | 447 c1512-4 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman had been listening, or if he took an interest in what is recorded in Hansard, ...
Daniel Kawczynski | 447 c1514-5 (Link to this contribution) When we have deliberations in the House about the replacement for Trident, does my hon. Friend agree...
Liam Fox | 447 c1515-6 (Link to this contribution) If my hon. Friend will have a little patience, I will shortly come to the process by which that shou...
Lord Robathan | 447 c1549 (Link to this contribution) The Minister has his glasses on and will notice that I am speaking from the Back Benches, not from t...
Lord Watson of Wyre Forest | 447 c1549 (Link to this contribution) Is that the hon. Gentleman’s view or is it his party’s?
Lord Harper | 447 c1551 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps I can help my hon. Friend. Regardless of his views before the Iraq war, does not he accept t...
Daniel Kawczynski | 447 c1550-1 (Link to this contribution) It is a great, if daunting, pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Blaby (Mr. Robathan) wh...
James Gray | 447 c1541-5 (Link to this contribution) It is a bold Back Bencher who follows two right hon. colleagues of such great distinction in these a...
Lord Robathan | 447 c1545 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for North Wiltshire (Mr. Gray), not least becau...
Lord Watson of Wyre Forest | 447 c1545 (Link to this contribution) I do not know whether the hon. Gentleman has attended throughout the afternoon, but we have already ...
Lord Robathan | 447 c1545-8 (Link to this contribution) As the Minister has kindly pointed out, our smaller party has six Back Benchers in their places, whi...
Lord Watson of Wyre Forest | 447 c1548 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is the Conservative party’s deputy Chief Whip. For clarification, is he speaking ...
Lord Robathan | 447 c1549 (Link to this contribution) Too often, they are seen as apologists.
Daniel Kawczynski | 447 c1538 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend has been in the House far longer than me, but I cannot recall a Chancellor of t...
Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom | 447 c1538 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow another Hampshire Member, the hon. Member for Portsmouth, North (Sarah Mc...
Sarah McCarthy-Fry | 447 c1536-7 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister. It is important that independent civilians on such a panel have exper...
Adam Ingram | 447 c1536 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making a thoughtful and wide-ranging speech. I have responded to the Blake report ...
Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom | 447 c1538-41 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has not read what the Chancellor said, because the Minister and my hon. Friend the Me...
James Gray | 447 c1531 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. and learned Friend is right: there is as yet no general insurgency in Afghanistan. Is ...
Tobias Ellwood | 447 c1536 (Link to this contribution) I am listening carefully to the hon. Lady, who is making a powerful speech. Of course the whole Hous...
Sarah McCarthy-Fry | 447 c1536 (Link to this contribution) I have no argument with the hon. Gentleman about the need for robust training and the need to make s...
Malcolm Rifkind | 447 c1531-3 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is correct; the situation could deteriorate significantly, but at present there is no...
Sarah McCarthy-Fry | 447 c1533-6 (Link to this contribution) I begin by paying tribute to the brave men and women of our armed forces, who risk their lives every...
Malcolm Rifkind | 447 c1530-1 (Link to this contribution) I declare an interest in regard to what I wish to say later about Afghanistan. I have some sympathy...
Robert Flello | 447 c1526-29;447 c1526-30 (Link to this contribution) I would be delighted to do so. The scheme has been going for about 18 years and it has allowed somet...
Nick Harvey | 447 c1525-6 (Link to this contribution) I agree that the problem lies with the submarines, which have a limited lifecycle, rather than with ...
Julian Lewis | 447 c1525 (Link to this contribution) I am listening to the hon. Gentleman very carefully, but I think that the problem is the life of the...
James Gray | 447 c1526 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps the hon. Gentleman will make one exception to that honourable self-denying ordinance and joi...
Robert Flello | 447 c1526 (Link to this contribution) Right hon. and hon. Members will know about the armed forces parliamentary scheme. I was delighted t...
Speaker | 447 c1520 (Link to this contribution) Order. The hon. Gentleman’s time is up.
Nick Harvey | 447 c1520-3 (Link to this contribution) It is welcome to have this chance in Government time to debate these important matters and to range ...
Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom | 447 c1523 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that it would be a great shame if the Farnborough air show came and we...
Nick Harvey | 447 c1523-5 (Link to this contribution) That is a very good point. The Farnborough air show will soon be upon us. I hope that it will focus ...
Harry Cohen | 447 c1519-20 (Link to this contribution) But the Government know the number of deaths that have occurred among civilians in Iraq and in Basra...
Harry Cohen | 447 c1519 (Link to this contribution) I do not know, as we have had virtually a news cover-up about Basra. I do know, however, that there ...
Lord Watson of Wyre Forest | 447 c1519 (Link to this contribution) Presumably my hon. Friend thinks that the information is reliable.
Harry Cohen | 447 c1519 (Link to this contribution) I am simply quoting Stop the War, which will have to give that information itself.
Lord Watson of Wyre Forest | 447 c1519 (Link to this contribution) Just to help me in the wind-ups, can my hon. Friend tell me where Stop the War collects its data fro...
Harry Cohen | 447 c1517-9 (Link to this contribution) I did so in that debate and I am happy to echo what I said. I am amazed that the hon. Gentleman shou...
Harry Cohen | 447 c1516-7 (Link to this contribution) I want to speak about Afghanistan and Somalia, but principally about Iraq. In Afghanistan, not enou...
Bob Russell | 447 c1517 (Link to this contribution) I intervened on the hon. Gentleman in an earlier defence debate to ask him to pay tribute to the Bri...
Daniel Kawczynski | 447 c1567 (Link to this contribution) I am not known for making personal comments in the Chamber, but does the hon. Gentleman agree that t...
Lord Watson of Wyre Forest | 447 c1566 (Link to this contribution) I shall come to the hon. Gentleman in a minute. He certainly lost a few friends after part of his co...
Julian Lewis | 447 c1562-5 (Link to this contribution) I see that the hon. Gentleman is nodding enthusiastically, because the Opposition have ensured—even ...
Julian Lewis | 447 c1561-2 (Link to this contribution) A sinner has indeed repented. The only question is: what is the nature of the repentance? The headli...
Lord Watson of Wyre Forest | 447 c1567-8 (Link to this contribution) I think that I heard the word ““knackered””. We need to deal with the situation as best we can. My ...
Harry Cohen | 447 c1570 (Link to this contribution) When I quoted Stop the War as saying that a death occurs every hour in Basra, the Minister intervene...
Lord Watson of Wyre Forest | 447 c1570 (Link to this contribution) We need to build up ties with the leadership of the provincial government there, so I understand the...
Tobias Ellwood | 447 c1570 (Link to this contribution) I was not so much talking about the propaganda war—perhaps another hon. Member mentioned that—but tr...
Daniel Kawczynski | 447 c1569 (Link to this contribution) He must be the only gentleman of Polish origin who is a Liberal Democrat.
Lord Watson of Wyre Forest | 447 c1569 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has made that allegation twice and the Deputy Prime Minister is not here to defen...
Lord Robathan | 447 c1568 (Link to this contribution) What I said earlier was not an allegation; it was a statement of fact and I can back it up with witn...
Lord Watson of Wyre Forest | 447 c1568 (Link to this contribution) I know that the hon. Gentleman did not say that we should abolish the RAF. He said that someone else...
Daniel Kawczynski | 447 c1551-2 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry; the Chancellor of the Exchequer. I am bemused, however, to discover that the Chancellor ...
Daniel Kawczynski | 447 c1552-3 (Link to this contribution) I know the Polish nation and spoke to Polish Ministers a few weeks ago. The Polish people very much ...
Lord Robathan | 447 c1552 (Link to this contribution) I was brought up just outside London near Northolt airfield. My hon. Friend will know that there is ...
Daniel Kawczynski | 447 c1553 (Link to this contribution) I agree with my hon. Friend. That practice shows how desperate the situation is. The Government will...
Tobias Ellwood | 447 c1553 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry to interrupt my hon. Friend’s flow because he is making a powerful speech. I went to a br...
Lee Scott | 447 c1553-5;447 c1553-6 (Link to this contribution) I open my remarks by paying tribute to the men and women of our armed forces. Their determination, c...
Lee Scott | 447 c1556 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has made a valuable point, and he is correct. I watched this Chamber before I was a M...
Adam Ingram | 447 c1557 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes useful contributions, but I think that he has misunderstood the title of th...
Tobias Ellwood | 447 c1557 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister for that helpful comment. I have a huge amount of respect for him, as ...
Adam Ingram | 447 c1557 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman and I have exchanged comments on this before. I take on board his general sentime...
Tobias Ellwood | 447 c1556-7 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to be called towards the end of this debate and to follow my hon. Friend the Member...
Tobias Ellwood | 447 c1558-61 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that intervention, which provides some clarity. I hope that the debate will not be...
Adam Ingram | 447 c1558 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman should examine the debates on the consideration that we have given to future Army...
Tobias Ellwood | 447 c1557-8 (Link to this contribution) Either way, I think that the Minister understands my point. If we are to do justice to the important...
Julian Lewis | 447 c1561 (Link to this contribution) I begin with a question that is not entirely rhetorical. Which Labour politician has described the T...
Alan Campbell | 447 c1570 (Link to this contribution) I beg to ask leave to withdraw the motion. Motion, by leave, withdrawn.
Adam Ingram | 447 c1496 (Link to this contribution) First of all, we have to discuss that with President Karzai. The incident referred to is recent, and...
Adam Ingram | 447 c1500 (Link to this contribution) I cannot give the hon. Gentleman specifics on the latter point. He should have read the written stat...
Lord Watson of Wyre Forest | 447 c1567 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that the hon. Gentleman’s comments have been heard. The contributions of the right hon. a...
Lord Watson of Wyre Forest | 447 c1565-6 (Link to this contribution) We have had a wide-ranging debate on defence policy. I point out to the hon. Member for New Forest, ...
Tobias Ellwood | 447 c1556 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making a passionate speech and pointing out some of the concerns, which many of us...
Lord Watson of Wyre Forest | 447 c1570 (Link to this contribution) When I intervened on my hon. Friend, I simply knew that he would leave the Chamber and spend night a...
Liam Fox | 447 c1504;447 c1503 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Lord Watson of Wyre Forest | 447 c1519 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend must know that I cannot possibly speak for Stop the War.
Lord Watson of Wyre Forest | 447 c1569 (Link to this contribution) He is not actually a Liberal Democrat. He is a Liberal—just to reassure those on the Liberal Democra...
Gerald Howarth | 447 c1567 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister for giving the House that information. Can he confirm the following po...
Daniel Kawczynski | 447 c1551 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention and I entirely agree. That is why I am not calling for ...
Subjects
Armed forces Defence Deployment Defence equipment Iraq EU common foreign and security policy EU action Peacekeeping operations Security Afghanistan
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