Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the answer of 8 January 2026 to Question 101383 on Government Actuary's Department: Freedom of Information, what is the evidential basis for the Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry's statement that the £34,702 million figure by the Government Actuary's Department was incorrect.

It is incorrect to present the nominal costs as the true amount, and to ignore the effects of inflation and the changing value of money on the real costs of a deal that lasts 99 years.

The figures published by the Government Actuary's Department clearly show that they had also calculated a net present value of £3.4 billion, by using the OBR forecast inflation rate along with the Social Time Discount Rate set out in the Green Book. The Government gave a detailed breakdown of this methodology in the explanatory memorandum we published alongside the Treaty in May 2025.

This is standard practice for any long-term Government deal. It ensures the figures are realistic, comparable, and not artificially inflated by adding up future payments without considering the time value of money.

These figures also have been verified and confirmed by the Office for Statistics Regulation and Office for Budget Responsibility.