Parliamentary Search

Debate on Monday, 20 April 2009, in the House of Commons, led by Bob Ainsworth. The answering member was Gerald Howarth.

Defence Procurement

Debate on a motion that this House has considered the matter of defence procurement. Agreed to on question.

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
491 c39-121 
Session
2008-09
Department
Ministry of Defence
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Proceeding contributions
Speaker | 491 c49 (Link to this contribution) Order. We can conduct this debate without that sort of expression. I ask the hon. Gentleman to have ...
Bob Ainsworth | 491 c39 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move,"That this House has considered the matter of defence procurement." Providing good eq...
Show all contributions (192)
Tobias Ellwood | 491 c40 (Link to this contribution) As the Minister knows, we have just returned from a two-week recess during which a number of announc...
Bob Ainsworth | 491 c39-40 (Link to this contribution) I will give way in a while. Separately and additionally, since 2001 the Treasury reserve has provid...
Speaker | 491 c40 (Link to this contribution) Order. The hon. Gentleman’s intervention has been very long, and he has asked a number of questions....
Crispin Blunt | 491 c40-1 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister explain to the House the problems associated with the UOR system, particularly as ...
Bob Ainsworth | 491 c40 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. You have made the point for me. I cannot go further than the debate a...
James Gray | 491 c41 (Link to this contribution) The Minister’s explanation of why UORs are important would be absolutely right if they were, indeed,...
Bob Ainsworth | 491 c41 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is right in that integrating programmes bought through the UOR process with the m...
Bob Ainsworth | 491 c41-2 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. The urgent operational requirement programme is in theory not capped ...
Speaker | 491 c41 (Link to this contribution) Order. For the benefit of those people outside this House who are not specialists, will the Minister...
Bob Ainsworth | 491 c42 (Link to this contribution) The Under-Secretary of State for Defence has just told me that he is hopeful that we will get to the...
Gerald Howarth | 491 c42 (Link to this contribution) The Minister mentioned the joint strike fighter. Will he inform the House of what the Obama Administ...
Lindsay Hoyle | 491 c52 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman clarify something that confuses me slightly? I understand that he disagrees ...
Gerald Howarth | 491 c52 (Link to this contribution) I have been a consistent opponent of the structure of the FSTA programme, which I think is the most ...
Gerald Howarth | 491 c50 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. I am grateful to my hon. Friend for her valuable intervention and I hope to amplify her rema...
Ann Winterton | 491 c50 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps a simple housewife can pose a question or make a remark with which, I hope, my hon. Friend w...
Gerald Howarth | 491 c50 (Link to this contribution) I am glad that you brought us back to the subject of the debate, Mr. Deputy Speaker; it was the righ...
Speaker | 491 c50 (Link to this contribution) Order. The House should calm down a little; we should turn to discussing the current procurement pos...
Linda Gilroy | 491 c51 (Link to this contribution) If this has just become a problem for the Conservatives in the light of the very challenging economi...
Gerald Howarth | 491 c51 (Link to this contribution) I have to tell the Minister that he is in government: he and his colleagues are responsible for the ...
Bob Ainsworth | 491 c51 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is saying what he has said repeatedly in television studios and from the Front Be...
Lord Davies of Stamford | 491 c50 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is absolutely wrong about my record during the last Conservative Administration. ...
Lord Davies of Stamford | 491 c50 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman says, "Rubbish!" but he is going to have to withdraw that.
Gerald Howarth | 491 c49 (Link to this contribution) Oh, I see that the turncoat wishes to intervene. I give way to the turncoat.
Speaker | 491 c49 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that none has been taken, but I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for withdrawing.
Gerald Howarth | 491 c49 (Link to this contribution) It was friendly banter, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and in the spirit of friendly banter I withdraw any offe...
Gerald Howarth | 491 c49-50 (Link to this contribution) That was absolutely magnificent and wonderful. The hon. Gentleman never made such accusations about ...
Lord Davies of Stamford | 491 c49 (Link to this contribution) There was no offence, Mr. Deputy Speaker, but I am happy nevertheless to accept the hon. Gentleman’s...
Bob Ainsworth | 491 c48-9 (Link to this contribution) I do not fully understand the hon. Gentleman’s question. I do not know whether the Under-Secretary o...
Gerald Howarth | 491 c49 (Link to this contribution) Predictably, the Minister painted a rosy picture of the state of Britain’s defence equipment program...
Bob Ainsworth | 491 c48 (Link to this contribution) I was just coming to the defence industrial strategy, so perhaps I can answer my hon. Friend by cont...
Angus Robertson | 491 c48 (Link to this contribution) The Minister has been extraordinarily generous in allowing Members to ask questions. While he is on ...
Brian Jenkins | 491 c48 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend referred to the fact that our armed forces are small, but an even smaller numbe...
Bob Ainsworth | 491 c47-8 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman should not take everything too far. The missile system is being tested and, befor...
Philip Hollobone | 491 c47 (Link to this contribution) Does it not demonstrate a failure of Her Majesty’s Government’s procurement policy that the new Type...
Linda Gilroy | 491 c47 (Link to this contribution) Can my right hon. Friend tell the House when we shall have an announcement about the maritime change...
Bob Ainsworth | 491 c47 (Link to this contribution) The carriers will be used for a variety of tasks, any one of which will have to be properly configur...
Roger Gale | 491 c46 (Link to this contribution) The Minister has commented twice on the carriers, but has made little other reference to the Royal N...
Bob Ainsworth | 491 c46 (Link to this contribution) The future tanker will provide us with capability and availability over the long term.
Bob Ainsworth | 491 c46 (Link to this contribution) I do not know whether the hon. Gentleman seriously believes that we will not at any point over the n...
Bob Ainsworth | 491 c46 (Link to this contribution) I think that that is the thrust of what I have said. It is enormously difficult, and it would be cha...
Tobias Ellwood | 491 c46 (Link to this contribution) I shall try to contain my comments this time, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and I am grateful to the Minister ...
Bob Ainsworth | 491 c46 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way to the hon. Gentleman again.
Lord Benyon | 491 c45-6 (Link to this contribution) Previous generations have warned the House about perceived threats, and have been shouted down, not ...
James Gray | 491 c64 (Link to this contribution) Leaving aside for a moment those magnificent procurement triumphs the Eurofighter and the A400M, can...
Willie Rennie | 491 c64 (Link to this contribution) There is no doubt that there have been significant problems with European defence procurement, but t...
Willie Rennie | 491 c63-4 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I shall now move on. The MARS or military afloat reach and sustainab...
Willie Rennie | 491 c64 (Link to this contribution) There are examples that have worked well. What we need to address is the fundamental issue of workin...
Angus Robertson | 491 c63 (Link to this contribution) Is it not important to place on record that there are 5,000 fewer shipbuilding jobs on the Clyde tha...
Willie Rennie | 491 c63 (Link to this contribution) Nothing arouses passions more than SNP Members raising the subject of the Clyde during a debate, bec...
Claire Curtis-Thomas | 491 c62 (Link to this contribution) I am listening with great interest to what the hon. Gentleman is saying. Let me take up two of his p...
Willie Rennie | 491 c63 (Link to this contribution) There was clearly a danger. If the hon. Lady had paid attention during the debate, she would have di...
Gerald Howarth | 491 c57-9 (Link to this contribution) I think I am going to phone a friend, actually. I am looking around for my hon. Friend the Member fo...
Gerald Howarth | 491 c59-60 (Link to this contribution) I will not give way to the hon. Lady, if she will forgive me, because many hon. Members wish to spea...
Willie Rennie | 491 c62 (Link to this contribution) They are grounded, well beyond time. They should have been grounded a long time ago. The Minister kn...
Lord Soames of Fletching | 491 c57 (Link to this contribution) May I suggest that my hon. Friend consider substantially expanding the courses on business expertise...
Gerald Howarth | 491 c57 (Link to this contribution) Unsurprisingly, I agree with my hon. Friend that a tremendous amount of work needs to be done in thi...
Speaker | 491 c57 (Link to this contribution) Order. If the hon. Gentleman is not sure, I am sure that the House is mystified—and those outside th...
Claire Curtis-Thomas | 491 c56 (Link to this contribution) From where does the hon. Gentleman think we are going to obtain significant competence in procuremen...
Gerald Howarth | 491 c56-7 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady poses an interesting question, to which I fear that I could give a long answer. I shal...
Gerald Howarth | 491 c55-6 (Link to this contribution) It is all right, we will send him a copy of this debate. I think that we know what he would say—we h...
Lord Davies of Stamford | 491 c55 (Link to this contribution) I imagine that the shadow Minister will not enjoy this particular intervention. His comments are a b...
Gerald Howarth | 491 c55 (Link to this contribution) Do you know, Mr. Deputy Speaker? I am wholly aware of that fact. I am also aware that the hon. Gentl...
Roger Gale | 491 c54 (Link to this contribution) Before we leave naval matters, is there also no defence cost in reducing the Daring-class fleet from...
Gerald Howarth | 491 c54-5 (Link to this contribution) I noted my hon. Friend’s intervention on the Minister. The House will have noted the Minister’s ext...
Gerald Howarth | 491 c54 (Link to this contribution) In case that gem was missed, my hon. Friend the Member for Mid-Sussex (Mr. Soames) said that it is n...
Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom | 491 c54 (Link to this contribution) I note in passing that there has been no intervention on my hon. Friend to suggest that the figure o...
Gerald Howarth | 491 c54 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend is extremely perceptive; I had noted the same thing. I will happily give way to...
Lord Davies of Stamford | 491 c54 (Link to this contribution) I am happy to try to clarify the position. When I said that there were no defence costs, I clearly s...
Gerald Howarth | 491 c53 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right—that is my understanding, too. That is why there is serious urgen...
Gerald Howarth | 491 c53 (Link to this contribution) I give way to that Committee’s Chairman.
Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom | 491 c53 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry that I am a little late in rising to my feet—I intended to ask my hon. Friend about the c...
Ben Wallace | 491 c52 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that one of the reasons we need an urgent answer is that under its constit...
Bob Ainsworth | 491 c44 (Link to this contribution) I shall come back to the right hon. and learned Gentleman on the naming of squadrons. We will try, i...
Lord Campbell of Pittenweem | 491 c44 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps I can reverse the usual circumstances and say that I will write to the Minister.
Bob Ainsworth | 491 c44 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right. This fantastic aircraft is spoken of very highly not only by all...
Lindsay Hoyle | 491 c44 (Link to this contribution) May I inform my right hon. Friend how important tranche 3 is not only as regards jobs and skills in ...
Bob Ainsworth | 491 c45 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman describes a hypothetical situation, which would include the questions of whether ...
Ben Wallace | 491 c45 (Link to this contribution) When there was a gap in production between tranche 1 and tranche 2 of Typhoon, the MOD had to pay £1...
Bob Ainsworth | 491 c45 (Link to this contribution) Our problems are different, but that does not necessarily make them easier. We procure relatively fe...
Lord Soames of Fletching | 491 c45 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the Minister and accept the point that he is making—procurement is not easy, and many o...
Linda Gilroy | 491 c43 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend mentioned the future surface combatant programme. Does he agree that, as with t...
Bob Ainsworth | 491 c43 (Link to this contribution) I try desperately to avoid falling into MOD jargon—[Interruption.] Perhaps I should say, "Ministry o...
Bob Ainsworth | 491 c43 (Link to this contribution) The programme for the joint strike fighter is in the early days, as the hon. Gentleman knows, but we...
Bob Ainsworth | 491 c43 (Link to this contribution) I cannot do that, because FRES is more than that. It does not just involve utility vehicles. In any ...
Linda Gilroy | 491 c43 (Link to this contribution) I thought that my right hon. Friend had agreed that plain English should rule the day. As far as I a...
Bob Ainsworth | 491 c43 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend was making a point about the titles that we hang on the kit and equipment that people...
Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom | 491 c43 (Link to this contribution) As always, the hon. Member for Plymouth, Sutton (Linda Gilroy) makes an extremely good point. Can we...
Lord Campbell of Pittenweem | 491 c44 (Link to this contribution) My constituents, particularly those who live close to RAF Leuchars, understand well and truly that t...
Bob Ainsworth | 491 c44 (Link to this contribution) We fall straight into a trap when we talk about tranche 3A and tranche 3B of Typhoon and nobody othe...
Bernard Jenkin | 491 c43-4 (Link to this contribution) The language issue is like "The Hunting of the Snark". Perhaps the Minister of State can explain wha...
Speaker | 491 c121 (Link to this contribution) It is in order for hon. Members to stay in order, and the hon. Gentleman concerned was in order.
Linda Gilroy | 491 c117 (Link to this contribution) I hope that the Minister understands that at the moment people can see things going in Plymouth, but...
Lord Davies of Stamford | 491 c117 (Link to this contribution) I understand my hon. Friend’s arguments, with which we have a lot of sympathy, as well as her impati...
Lord Davies of Stamford | 491 c120-1 (Link to this contribution) I will not give way now, because I have too little time. I am sorry to say that the debate began wi...
Lord Soames of Fletching | 491 c121 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. Is it in order for the hon. Gentleman to speak such utter rubbish ...
Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom | 491 c118 (Link to this contribution) I did not actually say that. I said that Professor Hew Strachan had said that under the current budg...
Lord Davies of Stamford | 491 c118-9 (Link to this contribution) If I know anything about academics, it is that we never get a consensus from any of them, and I have...
Lord Soames of Fletching | 491 c119 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has a reputation in the House for perhaps not telling things exactly as they are....
Bernard Jenkin | 491 c93-4 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend reinforces the points on both sides of the argument. Yes, there are virtues in standa...
Lord Soames of Fletching | 491 c92 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is partly, but not completely, right. The Germans, for example, bought the Leopard ta...
Bernard Jenkin | 491 c92 (Link to this contribution) May I crave the indulgence of the House for a moment, and compare the speech just delivered by my ho...
Ann Winterton | 491 c89-92 (Link to this contribution) Indeed it is. There is no doubt that procurement drives military strategy and tactics and that it, ...
Ann Winterton | 491 c89 (Link to this contribution) The debate has been interesting and wide ranging. It is a delight to follow the hon. Member for Cros...
Claire Curtis-Thomas | 491 c88-9 (Link to this contribution) It certainly does, but we heard again today the need to be able to plan for some eventualities. In E...
Claire Curtis-Thomas | 491 c94 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman advocating that we match some of the budget increases in developing nations th...
Bernard Jenkin | 491 c94-6 (Link to this contribution) I merely point out that our defence expenditure has declined, relative to that of other nations, and...
Claire Curtis-Thomas | 491 c87 (Link to this contribution) That is precisely what OCCAR has set out to do.
Claire Curtis-Thomas | 491 c87 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman talks about the right kit, and that is what gives companies a great opportunity. ...
Lord Soames of Fletching | 491 c86-7 (Link to this contribution) May I help the hon. Lady, who makes a very good point? The people she has been talking to are not pa...
Ben Wallace | 491 c88 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady recognise that one thing that makes our armed forces among the greatest in the wo...
Claire Curtis-Thomas | 491 c88 (Link to this contribution) I do not disagree with the hon. Gentleman’s arguments—I fully understand them. However, today I have...
Andrew Murrison | 491 c88 (Link to this contribution) I did not intend to intervene, but I thank the hon. Lady for the opportunity. What she describes sou...
James Gray | 491 c108-10 (Link to this contribution) It is often said and the Government always deny it, but it is impossible to imagine us firing Triden...
James Gray | 491 c108 (Link to this contribution) I was about to come on to two caveats to that general approach to life. The first involves those thi...
Gerald Howarth | 491 c108 (Link to this contribution) Has my hon. Friend considered security of supply?
Gerald Howarth | 491 c117 (Link to this contribution) Does that mean that, if circumstances required us to invest further sums in urgent operational requi...
Lord Davies of Stamford | 491 c115-6 (Link to this contribution) We have had an interesting debate, with a lot of extremely well-informed contributions. A certain am...
Andrew Murrison | 491 c111-5 (Link to this contribution) I must first draw the attention of the House to my entry in the register. The last defence procurem...
Bob Russell | 491 c110-1 (Link to this contribution) I shall speak only briefly. The bottom line has to be that procurement should be reliable and involv...
James Gray | 491 c108 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. He has now had the opportunity to make it twice, and the Chor...
Lord Davies of Stamford | 491 c117 (Link to this contribution) We are, I hope, good managers of the budget. We should therefore be able to take into account all th...
Bernard Jenkin | 491 c97-8 (Link to this contribution) Minehunters, I beg your pardon, Mr. Deputy Speaker. The Royal Navy is facing in two directions and ...
Bernard Jenkin | 491 c98 (Link to this contribution) I am just winding up, if I may. Defence must be prepared to make sacrifices in the current climate ...
Ben Wallace | 491 c101-4 (Link to this contribution) It is certainly a pertinent time to have this debate, just a few days before the Budget. Our armed f...
Angus Robertson | 491 c98-101 (Link to this contribution) It is a real honour to follow so many hon. and right hon. Members who speak with great experience on...
Ben Wallace | 491 c104-6 (Link to this contribution) Forgive me, but what I do not want to give up immediately is our forces. Our forces will experience ...
Lindsay Hoyle | 491 c104 (Link to this contribution) Of course, a lot of jobs and skills come on the back of the A400M, because of the technology in Barn...
James Gray | 491 c106-7 (Link to this contribution) I rise with some trepidation at the end of a long and well-informed debate, typified by the contribu...
Lindsay Hoyle | 491 c107 (Link to this contribution) It is a pity the hon. Gentleman did not open his ears when I was speaking. The point was not only th...
Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom | 491 c74 (Link to this contribution) I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. I want particularly to comment on the fact that it was not pro...
Lord Soames of Fletching | 491 c74 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend is doing himself down, because although at the time when he and I were Minister...
Lindsay Hoyle | 491 c75 (Link to this contribution) This is an important debate, and I shall follow the Chairman of the Select Committee by taking up so...
Linda Gilroy | 491 c68-71 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow previous contributors, who have quoted extensively from the Defence Commi...
Willie Rennie | 491 c67-8 (Link to this contribution) That is doubtful. We have made no bones about the fact that we are in favour of renewing Trident aft...
Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom | 491 c71-4 (Link to this contribution) We have just heard an excellent example of why the hon. Member for Plymouth, Sutton (Linda Gilroy) i...
James Gray | 491 c67 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is speaking from the Liberal Democrat Front Bench, and I am a little bit not up t...
Willie Rennie | 491 c67 (Link to this contribution) I think that sending out a message on whether we are going for three or four is important because if...
Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom | 491 c67 (Link to this contribution) I am following the hon. Gentleman’s speech with enjoyment, but I am now confused as to why he is ask...
Willie Rennie | 491 c66 (Link to this contribution) I agree with that, and the hon. Gentleman should have listened more carefully to my comments as I re...
Lindsay Hoyle | 491 c66 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman talks about drum beat, which is important to Barrow-in-Furness and keeping the sk...
Willie Rennie | 491 c65-6 (Link to this contribution) Nothing wakes Tories from their sleep more effectively than the word "Europe"; they start foaming at...
Ben Wallace | 491 c64-5 (Link to this contribution) When the hon. Gentleman refers to further and deeper European co-operation, does he mean the level t...
Willie Rennie | 491 c64 (Link to this contribution) We want our armed forces to have the best kit and the capability to have an influence in the world. ...
Lord Soames of Fletching | 491 c83-4 (Link to this contribution) I do not agree with my hon. Friend. I have made the point that war among the people is the way that ...
Tobias Ellwood | 491 c83 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend compares HMS Ocean with the aircraft carriers. Does he agree that our operations will...
Lord Soames of Fletching | 491 c84-5 (Link to this contribution) It will be one or the other; I am not making a political point. I am sorry to disappoint my hon. Fri...
James Gray | 491 c84 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making an absolutely central point. It is interesting that the Government have not...
Claire Curtis-Thomas | 491 c85-6 (Link to this contribution) I shall confine my remarks to my experience as a member of the European Security and Defence Assembl...
Lindsay Hoyle | 491 c82 (Link to this contribution) I agree with a lot of what the hon. Gentleman has said, but now he seems to be arguing that we shoul...
Lord Soames of Fletching | 491 c82-3 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. I know that I am not a very good speaker, but I have been doing...
Bob Ainsworth | 491 c83 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman, who is very knowledgeable; we always listen to what he says. Basically, ...
Lord Soames of Fletching | 491 c83 (Link to this contribution) I am in the fortunate position of not being party to the sums, which is a great thing when one is sp...
Claire Curtis-Thomas | 491 c80 (Link to this contribution) I was very fortunate to visit a forces logistics centre not so many months ago, and I talked to the ...
Lord Soames of Fletching | 491 c79-80 (Link to this contribution) I warmly endorse many points that the hon. Member for Chorley (Mr. Hoyle) has made. He is a staunch ...
Lindsay Hoyle | 491 c77-9 (Link to this contribution) We want to hear about that from those on the Government Front Bench. We need to know whether we will...
Lord Soames of Fletching | 491 c77 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman always makes a good case for his region, but is he aware that the issue is not ju...
Bernard Jenkin | 491 c80 (Link to this contribution) May I place a slightly different emphasis on these events? I was talking to Ministers at the time, a...
Lord Soames of Fletching | 491 c80 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady is only partially right. The delay in ordering kit was nothing to do with a vote in th...
Claire Curtis-Thomas | 491 c75-6 (Link to this contribution) May I offer my hon. Friend some encouragement? Declassified destroyers that were being broken up in ...
Lindsay Hoyle | 491 c76-7 (Link to this contribution) I hope that, if that is a clear message to the Government, they are listening, so we can look forwar...
Linda Gilroy | 491 c75 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for giving way so early in his speech. Has he, too, heard that at one point t...
Lindsay Hoyle | 491 c75 (Link to this contribution) That is absolutely correct. Some of our so-called allies would not even supply the equipment and amm...
Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom | 491 c42 (Link to this contribution) The Minister says that priority will be given to the FRES Scout vehicle, as the Under-Secretary of S...
Gerald Howarth | 491 c51 (Link to this contribution) Of course that is the position. We do not know what the numbers are—we have not had access to the bo...
Bob Ainsworth | 491 c47 (Link to this contribution) As my hon. Friend knows, I have been reading the local press. No matter what we say, the speculation...
Speaker | 491 c63 (Link to this contribution) Order. There are relatively few Members in the Chamber, and we really do not want the debate to be d...
Gavin Strang | 491 c60-1 (Link to this contribution) Of all the decisions that Governments take, surely none is more important than that to send our forc...
Willie Rennie | 491 c61-2 (Link to this contribution) In every defence debate we rightly pay tribute to the armed forces and the service that they give to...
James Gray | 491 c87 (Link to this contribution) I am listening carefully to the complicated argument that the hon. Lady is advancing, and I am littl...
Claire Curtis-Thomas | 491 c87-8 (Link to this contribution) Yes, but against what criteria? The hon. Member for Dunfermline and West Fife (Willie Rennie) allude...
Willie Rennie | 491 c66-7 (Link to this contribution) This is how things have happened in the past: we have made the main decision at main gate—we have no...
Gerald Howarth | 491 c53 (Link to this contribution) I think that it is universally accepted that delay in programmes costs money. The idea that one save...
Linda Gilroy | 491 c66 (Link to this contribution) I am a little confused as to whether the hon. Gentleman is arguing from a multilateralist or unilate...
Lord Soames of Fletching | 491 c80-2 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is completely right. As I said to the hon. Member for Crosby (Mrs. Curtis-Thomas), th...
Lord Davies of Stamford | 491 c119-20 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is right on the latter point in that the integration of some of our weapons, part...
Willie Rennie | 491 c67 (Link to this contribution) We want the NPT talks in 2010 to be a great success, and we will put a huge amount of effort into ma...
Subjects
Armed forces Defence Arms trade Defence equipment Armoured fighting vehicles Finance Iraq Helicopters Nuclear weapons Peacekeeping operations Procurement Proliferation Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Military aircraft Training Vehicles Warships Uniforms Afghanistan Body armour Aircraft carriers Devonport Dockyard Typhoon aircraft F-35 aircraft Future rapid effect system Trident Voyager aircraft Type 45 destroyers
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Parliamentary proceeding on www.publications.parliament.uk