Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of his timetable for reaching 2.5% GDP of expenditure on defence on the Astute Class submarine programme.

The Government is totally committed to spending 2.5% of GDP on defence as soon as possible. The Government will set out a clear path to 2.5% at a future fiscal event.

As set out in the Terms of Reference for the Strategic Defence Review, the UK is committed to the delivery of the AUKUS partnership with the US and Australia.