Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Written Statement of 19 July 2018, Modernising Defence Programme - Update, HCWS883, for what reasons only headline conclusions from that programme have been published.

The Ministry of Defence has consistently committed to sharing headline conclusions of the Modernising Defence Programme (MDP) before the summer. The Written Ministerial Statement I released on 19 July 2018 sets out those conclusions, and records the good progress that has been made since the launch of the programme in July.

As planned, the MDP will now move into a period of more detailed analysis and cross-Government discussion. During this period, we will consider how and where to adjust our policies and plans in response to our initial findings. We will then share more detailed conclusions.