Richard Foord
Main Page: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Honiton and Sidmouth)Department Debates - View all Richard Foord's debates with the Ministry of Defence
(2 days ago)
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John Healey
My hon. Friend is exactly right. This will not just set new standards within NATO of interoperability and interchangeability, with effectively a combined Norwegian-UK anti-submarine force; it means that more frigates—a total of 13 anti-submarine frigates between the two nations—will be available to reinforce the northern flank of NATO to provide the sort of deterrence required to keep the Russian threat in check.
My hon. Friend must be very proud of her Scotstoun yard. I hope that she will recognise, as I do, that this deal will secure the future of 4,000 jobs in the UK for many years, 2,000 of which are in Scotland.
Richard Foord (Honiton and Sidmouth) (LD)
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin is a fine example of public service, so I humbly agree with the Defence Secretary about the retiring Chief of the Defence Staff. When the CDS appeared before the Defence Committee in June, he said of NATO that
“The crucial thing is whether we are deterring Russia and whether we can face down the threats of Russia”.
He answered his own rhetorical question that we are, “absolutely”.
Following the strike in Kyiv that damaged the British Council and the EU’s diplomatic mission last week, can the Defence Secretary set out how the UK and NATO are deterring further symbolic attacks like this one?