Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the statement by the NATO secretary-general that NATO members should commit to spending (a) 3.5 per cent of GDP on hard defence and (b) 1.5 per cent on security.

This will form part of discussions ahead of the NATO Summit at the end of June. As these proposals are subject to agreement of all NATO Allies, including the UK, I hope the hon. Gentleman will know it would not be appropriate to comment at this time.