Andrew Rosindell
Main Page: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)Department Debates - View all Andrew Rosindell's debates with the Ministry of Defence
(2 days ago)
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Wes Streeting
As a matter of policy, we obviously do not talk about the storage of nuclear weapons. Suffice it to say that however much people want to try to find another way around this, I can only assure the House that, having looked at this issue with a fresh pair of eyes, I have reached the same conclusion as every Prime Minister since Boris Johnson, including this one. That conclusion is that the capabilities provided by the Diego Garcia base make it extremely unwise—and a risk not worth taking—to have legal uncertainty, which is why efforts to negotiate a treaty continue. [Interruption.] Conservative Members may disagree now. If they do, they should explain why Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and the right hon. Member for Richmond and Northallerton (Rishi Sunak) were all trying to achieve the same outcome.
Andrew Rosindell (Romford) (Reform)
The Secretary of State for Defence (Wes Streeting)
Last week in Washington, I met my US counterpart in person for the first time to discuss a range of issues including Ukraine, Russian aggression and Iran’s state-sponsored terrorism. In recent weeks, we have seen threats to our airbases here at home and deadly attacks on civilians in Saudi Arabia. The first responsibility of any Government is to defend the nation, and this Government are stepping up to meet the challenge with the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the cold war. We are building a country ready to fight and a Britain worth fighting for.
Andrew Rosindell
Since 2020, the Royal Navy has lost more than half of its frigates, its entire landing craft capability and its only icebreaker, and all of its attack submarines are now inoperable. I fear that our ability to protect the Falkland Islands is now in doubt, so will the Secretary of State take the defence of His Majesty’s overseas territories seriously and rebuild our naval capability?
Wes Streeting
It is simply irresponsible, not to mention inaccurate, to suggest that the UK is incapable of defending the Falkland Islands. We are perfectly capable of doing so, and we had a very visible demonstration of that only recently. Maybe if Reform had a defence spokesperson, they might have noticed.