Contributions
400 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDIran: Military PowerI thank my noble friend for that question. The key is to keep diplomatic channels open—it has to be. That is the only way this will be resolved in the long term. On drone…20 Feb 2024HANSARDIran: Military PowerMy Lords, this is an extremely good point. We can go only so far with sanctions, due to all the reasons that your Lordships are fully aware of and the fact that Iran has its…20 Feb 2024HANSARDIran: Military PowerThe noble Lord makes a very thorough and important point. We remain committed to a diplomatic solution and are prepared to use all diplomatic options to prevent Iran developing a…20 Feb 2024HANSARDIran: Military PowerMy Lords, the Ministry of Defence regularly makes assessments of our adversaries’ ability to project military power beyond their borders and how this may affect UK interests. We…20 Feb 2024HANSARDIran: Military PowerMy Lords, the noble Baroness will know that we cannot go into any great detail on this sort of thing. However, we have a permanent presence in the area, as do our allies, and we…20 Feb 2024HANSARDConventional Weapon Stocks: ExpenditureMy Lords, we have just short of £1 billion out for contract, so it is on the way, and we have invested a further £500 million in industrial capacity. Therefore, the money has not…19 Feb 2024HANSARDConventional Weapon Stocks: ExpenditureMy Lords, I think that everybody knows where I stand on this. There are competing demands on a finite amount of resource. The Government and the Prime Minister have made perfectly…19 Feb 2024HANSARDConventional Weapon Stocks: ExpenditureI thank the noble Lord for that question. There are a few feathers lying around in some of the rooms in the Ministry of Defence because one thing that the disaster in Ukraine has…19 Feb 2024HANSARDConventional Weapon Stocks: ExpenditureMy Lords, the Russian threat is paramount, and Russia must not on any account be allowed to prevail—there is no question about that, and the Government, the Opposition and…19 Feb 2024HANSARDConventional Weapon Stocks: ExpenditureMy Lords, a lot of orders are outstanding, as I have just said, with an enormous amount coming through in the next 12 months. We are replacing everything that we have gifted to…19 Feb 2024HANSARDConventional Weapon Stocks: ExpenditureMy Lords, I could not agree more. We are spending the money and as quickly as we can get it. We have delivered everything to Ukraine that we said we would. We are replenishing our…19 Feb 2024HANSARDConventional Weapon Stocks: ExpenditureMy Lords, I am afraid that that is information which we do not divulge.19 Feb 2024HANSARDConventional Weapon Stocks: ExpenditureThe noble Lord raises an extremely important and valid point. Noble Lords will know that NATO placed an order for 155 mm artillery shells on 23 January worth $1.2 billion. We have…19 Feb 2024HANSARDConventional Weapon Stocks: ExpenditureThe noble and gallant Lord knows only too well that procurement is really difficult when it comes to military assets. We had a conversation last week about appetite for risk, but…19 Feb 2024HANSARDConventional Weapon Stocks: ExpenditureMy Lords, £1.95 billion was allocated in the 2023 Spring Budget to improve resilience and readiness across a range of defence capabilities. This is not just about new investments…19 Feb 2024HANSARDRoyal Navy: Aircraft CarriersMy noble friend raises an extremely interesting point. As I think many noble Lords know, I have come in from the private sector relatively recently, where the concept of risk is…12 Feb 2024HANSARDRoyal Navy: Aircraft CarriersMy Lords, that is precisely the question I asked earlier in a briefing. I am assured that the carrier which has left to join Steadfast Defender will certainly fulfil its…12 Feb 2024HANSARDRoyal Navy: Aircraft CarriersMy Lords, that is not something I am particularly expert in, but I can see that it is important to make certain that a contract has the correct clauses to ensure that, when things…12 Feb 2024HANSARDRoyal Navy: Aircraft CarriersMy Lords, I answered this question the other day. These are highly technical pieces of equipment. We carry out regular tests, and it was a regular test which determined that the…12 Feb 2024HANSARDRoyal Navy: Aircraft CarriersMy understanding is that there are aircraft on board the carrier now.12 Feb 2024