Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to permanently station UK forces to defend the High North.

The Strategic Defence Review will set the strategic direction for Defence for the next decade. The UK is committed to maintaining a coherent Defence posture in the in the region and will defend and support our Allies should the need arise. The UK will contest malign and destabilising behaviours and activity in the region which threaten our interests and that of our Allies. The UK, as the framework nation for the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), provides a platform for engagement with Allied Arctic states, to build consensus on security issues, and counter Russian influence.

The deployment of the Littoral Strike Group, Joint Aviation Assets, Carrier Strike capability and routine Maritime patrols in the region, as well as our regular cold weather training exercises in Norway, underlines the UK’s commitment to security in the High North.