Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government which military assets, such as airports, the government of Saudi Arabia has made available to other members of the NATO Alliance currently mounting operations against the Houthi.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Shadow Minister (Defence)
His Majesty's Government can confirm that Saudi Arabia have not made any military assets available to any NATO members in any operations against the Houthis.
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of gross domestic product each member of the NATO Alliance spends on defence.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Shadow Minister (Defence)
NATO allies' defence spending data, including as a percentage of GDP, is published on the NATO website. The latest figures are from July 2023 and are due to be updated in February 2024.
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what reservations have been made by the International Board of Auditors for NATO in their most recent annual report with regard to the organisation's financial management.
Answered by Baroness Goldie - Shadow Minister (Defence)
The International Board of Auditors (IBAN) produces an annual report for the North Atlantic Council. Their reports on the 2021 Financial Statement Audit of the Reporting Entities and main findings of these audits are publicly available and can be found at:
https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/topics_111782.htm
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to send Challenger II tanks to assist the Government of Ukraine; how many shells will be provided that are suitable for a rifled barrel; and whether any other government has those shells available, given that Challenger II is the only battle tank within the NATO alliance that is capable of using this type of ammunition.
Answered by Baroness Goldie - Shadow Minister (Defence)
As confirmed by the Secretary of State on 16 January 2023, the UK will send a squadron of 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine, together with armoured recovery and repair vehicles. The gifting of these tanks is part of a significant new package of combat power to increase Ukraine's capabilities and accelerate Ukrainian success on the battlefield.
The UK will provide Ukraine with thousands of rounds of tank ammunition.
The UK is the only NATO nation which holds the required ammunition for Challenger 2.
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the levels of defence spending as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (1) currently spent by members of NATO, and (2) spent by each member of NATO at the time of the 2014 Wales NATO summit.
Answered by Baroness Goldie - Shadow Minister (Defence)
Please see the table below for levels of defence spending by % of GDP currently spent by members of NATO, and spent by each member of NATO at the time of the 2014 Wales NATO summit.
This information is according to the NATO press release (COMMUNIQUE PR/CP(2019)123) ‘Defence Expenditure of NATO Countries (2013-2019)’ published on 29 November 2019.
https://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/pdf/pdf_2019_11/20191129_pr-2019-123-en.pdf
Defence expenditures as per cent of GDP - Based on 2015 prices and exchange rates
Nation | Defence expenditure as a % of GDP 2014 | Defence expenditure as a % of GDP 2019e (current) |
Albania | 1.35 | 1.26 |
Belgium | 0.98 | 0.93 |
Bulgaria* | 1.32 | 3.25 |
Canada | 1.01 | 1.31 |
Croatia | 1.84 | 1.68 |
Czech Republic | 0.95 | 1.19 |
Denmark | 1.15 | 1.32 |
Estonia | 1.93 | 2.14 |
France | 1.82 | 1.84 |
Germany | 1.18 | 1.38 |
Greece | 2.21 | 2.28 |
Hungary | 0.86 | 1.21 |
Italy | 1.14 | 1.22 |
Latvia | 0.94 | 2.01 |
Lithuania | 0.88 | 2.03 |
Luxembourg | 0.38 | 0.56 |
Montenegro | 1.50 | 1.66 |
Netherlands | 1.15 | 1.36 |
Norway | 1.55 | 1.80 |
Poland | 1.85 | 2.00 |
Portugal | 1.31 | 1.52 |
Romania | 1.35 | 2.04 |
Slovak Republic | 0.99 | 1.74 |
Slovenia | 0.97 | 1.04 |
Spain | 0.92 | 0.92 |
Turkey | 1.45 | 1.89 |
United Kingdom | 2.16 | 2.14 |
United States | 3.73 | 3.42 |
* Defence Expenditure does not include pensions.
e - Figures for 2019 are estimates
According to NATO’s latest spending figures, the UK’s Defence spending has increased year-on-year since 2017.
When looking at Defence spending, it is not appropriate to compare ‘like for like’ because the nature of Defence spending changes over time.
Defence spending is about assessing the threats we face and ensuring that we have the capabilities necessary to deal with them.
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their latest public expectation of the percentage of GDP to be devoted to defence spending in 2024 for each member of the NATO Alliance, in pursuit of their unanimous commitment, made at the Wales Summit in 2014, to move towards two per cent.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The UK continues to encourage all Allies to work towards meeting the 2014 Defence Investment Pledge, under which they are committed to spending at least 2% of their GDP on Defence by 2024. The UK Government has committed to meeting that target and to ensuring that the Defence budget continues to rise by at least 0.5% above inflation for every year of this Parliament. The UK does not make its own assessment of other Allies' defence spend; it is for NATO to assess that against its own metrics, and it publishes regular reports on Allies' Defence spending.
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the most recent figures for the percentage of gross domestic product spent on defence for each NATO member state; and where figures are available, what those percentages are expected to be in two years' time.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The most recent figures for the percentage of gross domestic product spent on defence for each NATO member state were published in July 2016 and can be found in table 3 of the attached.
http://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/pdf/pdf_2016_07/20160704_160704-pr2016-116.pdf
Under this Government there are no published figures available for future NATO defence spending, however the UK is committed to meet our NATO pledge to spend 2 per cent of GDP on defence every year of this decade in accordance with the NATO guidelines.
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect the NATO battalion-sized battlegroup to be established in Estonia; which NATO members will contribute; how many NATO personnel will be involved; where the battlegroup will be based; and which will be the lead nation.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The information requested is set out in the table below:
Host Nation | Framework Nation | Based from | Contributing Nations | Number of Personnel | Deployed from |
Estonia | UK | Tapa | France, Denmark | Each Enhanced Forward Presence deployment is expected to have around 1,000 personnel, but this will vary over time due to planned rotations of units. | Each Enhanced Forward Presence Battalion will be deployed from early 2017. |
Latvia | Canada | Adazi | Albania, Italy, Poland, Slovenia | ||
Lithuania | Germany | Rukla | Belgium, Croatia, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway | ||
Poland | US | Several locations including Żagań, Świętoszów, Skwierzyna, and Bolesławiec | Romania, UK |
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect the NATO battalion-sized battlegroup to be established in Latvia; which NATO members will contribute; how many NATO personnel will be involved; where the battlegroup will be based; and which will be the lead nation.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The information requested is set out in the table below:
Host Nation | Framework Nation | Based from | Contributing Nations | Number of Personnel | Deployed from |
Estonia | UK | Tapa | France, Denmark | Each Enhanced Forward Presence deployment is expected to have around 1,000 personnel, but this will vary over time due to planned rotations of units. | Each Enhanced Forward Presence Battalion will be deployed from early 2017. |
Latvia | Canada | Adazi | Albania, Italy, Poland, Slovenia | ||
Lithuania | Germany | Rukla | Belgium, Croatia, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway | ||
Poland | US | Several locations including Zagan, Swietoszów, Skwierzyna, and Boleslawiec | Romania, UK |
Asked by: Lord Jopling (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect the NATO battalion-sized battlegroup to be established in Lithuania; which NATO members will contribute; how many NATO personnel will be involved; where the battlegroup will be based; and which will be the lead nation.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The information requested is set out in the table below:
Host Nation | Framework Nation | Based from | Contributing Nations | Number of Personnel | Deployed from |
Estonia | UK | Tapa | France, Denmark | Each Enhanced Forward Presence deployment is expected to have around 1,000 personnel, but this will vary over time due to planned rotations of units. | Each Enhanced Forward Presence Battalion will be deployed from early 2017. |
Latvia | Canada | Adazi | Albania, Italy, Poland, Slovenia | ||
Lithuania | Germany | Rukla | Belgium, Croatia, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway | ||
Poland | US | Several locations including Zagan, Swietoszów, Skwierzyna, and Boleslawiec | Romania, UK |