Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Cooper Excerpts

Monday 3rd November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Luke Pollard]

I agree with the hon. Gentleman’s critique of the system that we inherited from the previous Government, which frankly was not good enough. We do need to see procurement contracting times reduced, which is why in the defence industrial strategy we set out our ambition to reduce six-year procurements to two years, two-year procurements to one year, and one-year procurements to six months. We are using innovative technologies, such as artificial intelligence, to help speed up that transition, and we are opening our office of small business growth at the start of next year, which will enable more SMEs to access defence contracts directly.

[Andrew Cooper (Mid Cheshire) (Lab)]

5. What recent discussions he has had with allies on military support for Ukraine.

[Paul Davies (Colne Valley) (Lab)]

22. What recent discussions he has had with allies on military support for Ukraine.

[The Secretary of State for Defence (John Healey)]

The UK is playing a leading role in stepping up support for Ukraine. This year we are spending the highest ever level on military aid to Ukraine through the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, which I chaired last month. In this year alone we have managed to get £50 billion-worth of pledges of support for Ukraine from the 50-nation-strong group. Tomorrow I will join Defence Ministers in the Joint Expeditionary Force coalition in Norway, where we will confirm a new partnership with Ukraine to strengthen our support further.

[Andrew Cooper]

I strongly welcome the Defence Secretary’s continued leadership on Ukraine. I visited Estonia in early September, just prior to the incident in which three MiG-31 Russian fighter jets entered Estonian airspace and stayed for 12 minutes, in a further dangerous escalation of tensions in the region. Even before that incident, the sense I got from the Estonian politicians I met was that they were very much on the frontline, and there was deep concern that, if Russia succeeds in Ukraine, they will be next. What assurances can the Defence Secretary give that contingency plans are in place to support our NATO allies in the face of continued Russian aggression?

[John Healey]

I commend my hon. Friend, and Members on both sides of the House who have visited Ukraine. That can give an important sense of support and confidence to those fighting in Ukraine. He is right; Putin’s incursions into NATO airspace are reckless and dangerous, and serve only to strengthen the unity of NATO. NATO responded swiftly to those incursions, and I recently extended the UK’s Typhoon contribution to that Eastern Sentry exercise until the end of the year. The UK remains the framework nation for the forward land forces in Estonia—we have almost 10,000 UK troops in Estonia. That strengthens NATO’s deterrence, which is something I will be discussing with JEF Defence Ministers this week in Norway.