Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he will make it his Department's policy to reinstate the two-power standard as applied to the Royal Navy Fleet.

The 'two-power standard' was set out by the Naval Defence Act 1889 and dictated that the Royal Navy (RN) should maintain a fleet at least as strong as the next two powerful navies combined. Today our security is underpinned by NATO's collective defence, where capabilities are shared across 32 allies.

Modern naval warfare still demands mass, presence, and resilience. For that reason, The Royal Navy is transforming to a hybrid fleet, moving to a dispersed but digitally connected fleet of crewed, uncrewed, and autonomous platforms. This restores mass and power in a cost-effective way whilst ensuring we retain the cutting-edge capabilities expected of a leading NATO navy.