UK-France Nuclear Partnership

Debate between Ben Obese-Jecty and Maria Eagle

Thursday 10th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Maria Eagle]

I suppose I should say that I am surprised that the shadow Secretary of State for Defence only quoted half the sentence—if indeed that is the case—but he is probably not the first Opposition spokesperson to do that in the history of Oppositions in this House. I agree with my hon. Friend that what we have here is a strengthening of the deterrent across Europe, which will help to deter potential adversaries from conducting themselves in a way that might threaten the future of our nations.

[Ben Obese-Jecty (Huntingdon) (Con)]

I welcome the announcement of strengthened collaboration with France, although reading between the lines, it sounds like “co-ordination” is actually submarine patrol deconfliction. Our aerial participation in the NATO nuclear mission is still a decade away, with the completion of F-35A delivery not scheduled until 2033, according to the Government, but both the French air force and marine nationale are armed with the air-sol moyenne portée amélioré—ASMPA—medium-range supersonic nuclear-tip missile as part of their force de dissuasion. Is that nuclear strike capability within the scope of this agreement? If so, how will it be incorporated into our own nuclear doctrine? Will it be an escalation step prior to the use of Trident? Does this form an interim solution while we await the capability to fully participate in the NATO nuclear mission? How will command of it work?

[Maria Eagle]

The hon. Gentleman complains about the amount of time it has taken this Government to do things in respect of defence, but we had to pick up the mess that was left by his Government, who were in office for 14 years. It is a bit of a cheek for him to complain about delay, when the reality is that his own Government did nothing for 14 years. I have made it quite clear that our defence nuclear posture is not changing, and that we are not seeking to acquire new and different nuclear weapons, but if the vital interests of the UK and France are engaged and threatened, we will co-ordinate our nuclear response as a result of this agreement, and that provides a greater deterrent.

Nuclear-certified Aircraft Procurement

Debate between Ben Obese-Jecty and Maria Eagle

Wednesday 25th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Maria Eagle]

I welcome my hon. Friend’s support. We have had strong support from our allies in NATO. In my reply to the hon. Member for South Suffolk (James Cartlidge), I read out the response of the Secretary-General, who was full of praise.

[Ben Obese-Jecty (Huntingdon) (Con)]

The Minister is well aware of my interest in the F-35 programme. Lockheed Martin manufactures around 150 jets a year, and there are nearly 600 on order by everyone from Switzerland to Singapore. On top of that, there are 1,200 still to be delivered to the US air force, so whereabouts are we in the queue? She mentioned that we would expect the first deliveries before the end of decade, but are we cutting to the front of the line? Given that the orders from some allies are not due to be fulfilled until 2032, will delivery of all 12 planes be completed within a decade? On refuelling, will she clarify that we have no sovereign air-to-air refuelling capability outside of a NATO mission?

[Maria Eagle]

I know that the hon. Gentleman has a very close interest in these matters because I have to answer all his parliamentary questions, and I welcome that interest. As the Secretary of State said this morning, we hope that we can start receiving delivery of these planes before the end of the decade. The hon. Gentleman is right that any manufacturing capability has queues, but orders are subject to contractual discussions and arrangements can be made, so that is what we are aiming for. Obviously, we will keep the House informed of how we get on.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ben Obese-Jecty and Maria Eagle

Monday 19th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Maria Eagle]

My hon. Friend makes a good point. We are delivering for defence by putting people at the heart of our defence plans. The new consumer charter for families in military homes will include improved repairs, a named housing officer for every family, and a better and clearer complaints process. I am aware of the issues he raises about pest control at RAF Wittering. This has been raised with Amey, the contractor that has the maintenance contract there, and I will expect to see an improvement.

[Ben Obese-Jecty (Huntingdon) (Con)]

My constituency of Huntingdon is the home of our defence intelligence capability. It is also home to the joint intelligence operation centre Europe, which is an analytics centre for the US air force, and the NATO Intelligence Fusion Centre. Wyton airfield has recently been designated as a trailblazer site, and it could be a key location at which to build defence technology. Will the Minister meet me to discuss the potential of building a technology hub in Huntingdon, alongside the combined authority and Huntingdonshire district council?

[Maria Eagle]

The hon. Member has set out a compelling reason why I should meet him, and I am very happy to do so.

Unity Contract

Debate between Ben Obese-Jecty and Maria Eagle

Friday 24th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Maria Eagle]

I completely agree with my hon. Friend’s point, which is that SMEs form a central part of our industrial base and can do more, if we encourage and enable them to do so, to boost our defence, boost jobs and boost economic growth in all regions and nations. I invite him to get involved in our defence industrial strategy consultation, which is ongoing.

[Ben Obese-Jecty (Huntingdon) (Con)]

I welcome the Unity contract and the work done by the previous Government to initiate it. It is a critical step in maintaining our submarine fleet and facilitating our continuous at-sea nuclear deterrence. The Minister recently confirmed to me that, excluding Trident, our defence spending as a percentage of GDP is actually only 1.9%. That puts the UK 23rd of 32 NATO countries, below North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania and others. Our non-nuclear NATO partners currently spend proportionally more than we do on conventional forces, while Trident is a measure of last resort. To ensure that we are properly resourced for high-intensity, multi-domain collective defence, should our NATO spending commitment not be to meet that target on conventional forces, with our nuclear capability in addition to that?

[Maria Eagle]

I am not sure that is even the policy of the Conservative party—the shadow Defence Secretary can confirm whether that is the case. If I may say so, it is a bit sleight of hand to say that taking out a big chunk of our spending, which we are actually spending, will leave us well in deficit. Of course it would. However, I understand the point that the hon. Gentleman makes and the importance he attaches to spending on conventional defence. That is an important point, and once the strategic defence review is published he will be able to see the threats it identifies and how we will improve our capability to deal with them.