Oral Answers to Questions

Olivia Bailey Excerpts

Wednesday 16th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jo Stevens]

I always believe that we do things better when we do them together.

[Olivia Bailey (Reading West and Mid Berkshire) (Lab)]

8. What assessment she has made of the potential impact of increases in defence spending on Wales.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (Dame Nia Griffith)]

We are committed to spending 5% of the UK’s GDP on national security by 2035. The spending review invested to keep our people safe, with a £10.9 billion real-terms increase to the Ministry of Defence budget. This will help grow the Welsh economy and our thriving defence sector, which is home to over 160 companies employing more than 20,000 people right across Wales.

[Olivia Bailey]

This Government’s commitment to spending 5% of GDP on national security will be transformational for Wales and for my constituency, where thousands are employed in the defence sector and where we welcomed a £15 billion boost for the Atomic Weapons Establishment. Do the Secretary of State and the Minister agree that both our national security and our local economies are better off with Labour?

[Dame Nia Griffith]

Absolutely; our ambition is to become a defence industrial superpower by 2025. We are making defence an engine for growth, boosting prosperity, jobs and security for working people across the UK. As part of this, we will establish the UK defence innovation fund, with £400 million to fund and grow UK-based companies. We are also launching the new regional defence growth deals across the UK, including a cluster in Wales.