Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has put in place plans to reduce the £6 billion affordability gap over the next five years of defence equipment spending; and if he will make a statement.
The Secretary of State is taking steps to manage the financial pressures in Ministry of Defence's plans. We have subsequently reduced the shortfall in the years from 2020-21 by securing £2.2 billion extra spending for defence in the 2019 Spending Round and driving progress in our ambitious Transformation programme. We recognise that resolving the longer-term financial challenge in the Equipment Plan will be for the spending review later this year.