Alec Shelbrooke
Main Page: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Elmet and Rothwell)Department Debates - View all Alec Shelbrooke's debates with the Ministry of Defence
(1 year, 9 months ago)
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James Heappey
No. I will have to write to the hon. Gentleman.
Alec Shelbrooke (Elmet and Rothwell) (Con)
Does my hon. Friend agree that the emerging threats from China show NATO was right to make cyber and space among the key frontiers, along with the traditional three, and that, when looking at defence procurement and how money is spent, we are world leading in these vital areas of defence?
James Heappey
I absolutely agree with my right hon. Friend, but we should not think that our competition with China is exclusively concentrated on the high-end warfighting capabilities that may or may not be required in the first and second island chains. Every single week, we compete with China for influence around the world. Maintaining the defence effort across the global south to protect our interests around the Commonwealth is every bit as important as preparing to stand alongside the US in anything that might happen in the Pacific.