Oral Answers to Questions

John Slinger Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Yvette Cooper]

As the hon. Member will know, a planning process is under way; it is quasi-judicial, so I cannot cut across it. In January, as Home Secretary, I and the former Foreign Secretary, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tottenham (Mr Lammy), wrote a letter during the planning process, setting out a number of national security considerations that required resolution before a decision could be made. Further updates will follow on that. I can say to the House that national security has been, and continues to be, a core priority for the Government.

[John Slinger (Rugby) (Lab)]

China clearly poses national security threats. It is also one of our largest trading partners and one of the biggest economies in the world, so does the Foreign Secretary agree that we should reject the binary choice between security and the economy, and the bluster from Opposition Members, and that we should instead focus on how to be strong on both national security and our economic interests?

[Yvette Cooper]

My hon. Friend is right that we need to both strengthen our security against threats from China, including cyber-threats and issues around transnational repression and economic security, such as the supply of critical minerals across the world, and engage with China on issues around trade and climate change. That, frankly, is in our national interests, and we would be letting the country down if we did not engage on both security and the economy in our national interests.