Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Defence Diplomacy Strategy, Keeping Britain Safe: secure at home and strong abroad, page 30, by when does he plan to have established a new Defence Diplomacy Cadre for civilian policy professionals.

As part of the implementation of the Defence Diplomacy Strategy, the Ministry of Defence is establishing a Defence Diplomacy Cadre to increase training and education for our international facing policy staff. The cadre will be piloted with an initial focus on developing skills for staff in US facing roles.

Lessons from the pilot will inform the work on the full Defence Diplomacy Cadre, which will leverage expertise within Defence and wider government on relationship building, negotiation, cultural awareness, and complex geo-political contexts, to further develop these skills in Defence, and empower staff in international facing roles.