Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many members of the Israel Defence Forces and Mossad have attended the Royal College of Defence Studies in the past 25 years.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
28 places have been taken up by Israeli Defence Forces on the Royal College of Defence Studies since 2000. These places are offered to the Israel Defence Forces.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Tianjin.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The UK is not part of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, but closely monitors international events. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's summit resulted in numerous outcomes for participating States. This included the Tianjin Declaration, which does not contain any mention of Russia's war against Ukraine.
We will never shy away from challenging China's political and military backing for Russia. We urge the Chinese government to impress on Putin the need to end the war immediately by withdrawing Russian forces from Ukraine and ceasing his illegal attacks.
More broadly, our approach to China is clear. We will cooperate where we can and we will challenge where we must - never compromising on our national security, and recognising the complexity of the world as it is.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether BAE Systems will run two building streams of Type 26 frigates to ensure that Royal Navy and Norwegian Navy delivery dates are met.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The recent announcement by the Norwegian Government to select the UK as a strategic partner for the acquisition of Type (T26) warships is expected to provide a £10 billion boost to the UK economy and support more than 400 British companies.
Both the Royal Navy and Norwegian Navy T26 frigates will be built simultaneously by BAE Systems on the Clyde, benefitting from investments already made, such as the Janet Harvey Shipbuilding Hall in Govan. The new Shipbuilding Hall will improve schedule performance and the pace of delivery, reducing the time between future ship deliveries for both the UK and Norway.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the countries that have signed up to the Type 26 frigate programme.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Type 26 frigate programme is a UK programme. The recent announcement that Norway has selected the UK as their preferred strategic partner for Frigate procurement signals their intention to order Type 26 ships.
The Type 26 is already the reference design for the Australian Hunter Class Frigate Programme and the Canadian River Class Destroyer Programme.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to bring forward the in-service date of the first multi-role strike ship; and what steps they will take to increase the build rate of the five remaining multi-role strike ships.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Multi-Role Strike Ship (MRSS) programme is progressing through the Concept Phase and remains on target for the first of class to be delivered in the early 2030s.
The Royal Navy and Defence Equipment and Support are conducting detailed work on key user requirements, conceptual designs, affordability, and exportability assessments. Alongside other shipbuilding programmes, they are maintaining engagement with all leading UK shipbuilding entities and the National Shipbuilding Office (NSO) on the best commercial approach to deliver for the Navy and the Nation.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have sufficient Poseidon aircraft to meet anti-submarine needs and to fly missions along the borders of Belarus and Ukraine.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The RAF P-8 Poseidon fleet procurement is complete, and all purchased aircraft are in service. Poseidon is therefore resourced to deliver against Defence tasking as directed and aircraft are tasked according to Defence priorities. For reasons of operational security, specific details about operational areas and missions are not publicly disclosed.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to build a large nuclear power station using European pressurised reactor technology after the completion of Sizewell C.
Answered by Lord Wilson of Sedgefield - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
This Government is committed to nuclear power. As set out in the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan, nuclear will play an important role in delivering clean power by 2030 and beyond, providing clean, stable and reliable power. No decision has yet been taken on whether to pursue a future large-scale project beyond Sizewell C.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that human remains found among the scrap of the battleship HMS Prince of Wales and battlecruiser HMS Repulse are given a fitting burial by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Investigations into the illegal salvage are still ongoing. The Ministry of Defence is unable to provide a response regarding the presence of human remains until these investigations have concluded.
If the remains of British Service personnel are identified, the Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (JCCC) will ensure that they are afforded a dignified military funeral and final resting place.
In unfortunate cases where there may be insufficient evidence, resource or capacity to name the deceased they will remain 'unknown', but be afforded the appropriate dignity and respect. Similarly, in cases where the evidence set may be too broad, remains are afforded a shared, final resting place.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to using the ongoing Operation Highmast deployment to repatriate one of the anchors of the battleship HMS Prince of Wales that were illegally salvaged in Malaysia.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Malaysian authorities have primacy over the investigation into the illegal salvage of HMS Prince of Wales and it would be inappropriate to comment at this stage. Decisions on the preservation of any artefacts will be made once investigations have concluded.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether construction of the first Fleet Solid Support ship has begun.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Successful delivery of the Fleet Solid Support (FSS) ship programme, which is currently in the design phase, remains a priority. The recent acquisition of Harland & Wolff (H&W) by Navantia UK, following the administration of H&W, has provided greater certainty to the delivery of the FSS programme and protects UK’s shipbuilding capability.
Construction has not yet begun, the design work is progressing well and production of the first FSS ship is expected to begin later in 2025, with all three vessels bolstering the Royal Fleet Auxiliary over the coming decade.