Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will list the media organisations given advance sight of the Strategic Defence Review prior to its publication.

As the hon. Member will be aware, the Secretary of State for Defence has been determined to reset the relationship between Parliament and the Ministry of Defence, increasing transparency and openness. The Department sought to reflect this determination for the publication of the Strategic Defence Review, and to build on the approach made for previous defence reviews.

On the day of the launch, we offered embargoed copies of the Strategic Defence Review to key stakeholders, including the House of Commons Defence Committee, media organisations and others. This was done in good faith, reflecting the contribution by stakeholders to the first-of-its-kind review.

We therefore invited the Defence Correspondents Association and several additional outlets to cover UK national media.