Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of current UK defence procurement plans in protecting and maintaining sovereign defence capabilities.

The Ministry of Defence has measures in place to identify and, where necessary, take action to protect those aspects of capability which are essential to the UK's freedom of action and operational advantage on national security grounds. We are adopting a more vigilant and systematic approach to implementing this, notably in relation to industry's supply chains.