Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer 2 April 2025 to Question 41781 on Sovereignty: Greenland, what steps he is taking to support the the (a) Government of Greenland and (b) the Kingdom of Denmark.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign Secretary and I have been clear that Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and the future of their constitutional arrangements is a matter for the people and Government of Greenland, and the Kingdom of Denmark.
We look forward to working with Greenland's new government and will continue to maintain strong ties with all parts of the Kingdom of Denmark. I have met Greenland's Foreign Minister twice since taking office and have also discussed bilateral cooperation with the Faroese Foreign Minister. The Prime Minister hosted Danish Prime Minister Frederiksen in London on 4 February for bilateral discussions.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the potential implications for his polices of the diplomatic relationship between the US and Denmark.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK maintains strong relations with both the US and Denmark, including as close NATO Allies, and on the shared priority of security in the High North.
The UK has a longstanding policy of respecting self-determination. The Foreign Secretary and I have been clear that Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and the future of their constitutional arrangements is a matter for the people and Government of Greenland, and the Kingdom of Denmark.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of recent remarks from the United States administration on the sovereignty of Greenland.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK maintains strong relations with both the US and Denmark, including as close NATO Allies, and on the shared priority of security in the High North.
The UK has a longstanding policy of respecting self-determination. The Foreign Secretary and I have been clear that Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and the future of their constitutional arrangements is a matter for the people and Government of Greenland, and the Kingdom of Denmark.
Asked by: Lord Monks (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the remarks by the President of the United States of America about a possible American takeover of Greenland; and whether they have discussed this matter with the Kingdom of Denmark.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
As the Foreign Secretary has made clear, Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark and the future of their constitutional arrangements is a matter for the people and Government of Greenland, and the Kingdom of Denmark. The Prime Minister met with the Prime Minister of Denmark in February. The readout is available on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) proportion and (b) value was of steel from the (i) US and (ii) EU used in UK military shipbuilding in each of the last five years.
Answered by Maria Eagle
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) contributes to the Department for Business and Trade’s (DBT) steel public procurement return. The information is published annually and can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/steel-public-procurement
The data available from the information published includes steel purchased for MOD shipbuilding projects. The response to this question assumes that UK military shipbuilding relates solely to the building of surface warships, and does not include submarine construction.
The tables below set out a summary of the details available, for each of the last five years. Data for Financial Year (FY) 2023-24 has not yet been published. The data gathered and subsequently published by DBT has matured and become more detailed since the start of publishing steel data for FY 2017-18 in January 2019. Therefore, the origin of the steel is only available for FY 2022-23.
Financial Year 2022-23
Project | Steel product type | EU / UK / US | Countries of origin | Value of steel £ |
Type 31 | Flat rolled, Plate, Sections & shapes | EU | Finland, Spain | £41,850,500 |
| Sections & shapes, Tubes/Pipes/Hollow sections | UK | UK | £1,311,790 |
| ||||
Type 26 | Plate, Sections & shapes | EU | Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain | £3,162,171 |
| Plate, Sections & shapes | UK | UK | £1,537,996 |
Financial Year 2021-22
Project | Steel product type | Countries of origin | Value of steel £ |
Type 31 | Plate, Bulb bar, Sections | Not detailed | £43,600,000 |
Type 26 | Plate | Not detailed | £465,498 |
Financial Year 2020-21
Project | Steel product type | Countries of origin | Value of steel £ |
Type 31 | Structural steel, Sections | Not detailed | £391,949 |
Type 26 | Plate, Sections, Sheet, Non-ship | Not detailed | £3,758,269 |
Financial Year 2019-20
Project | Steel product type | Countries of origin | Value of steel £ |
Type 26 | Various grades | Not detailed | £3,401,994 |
Financial Year 2018-19
No steel was recorded as having been purchased in FY 2018-19 for any UK shipbuilding projects.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of Tranche 1 Typhoon jets being repurposed for deployment in Ukraine.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence has assessed the relative merits and downsides of donating Typhoon Tranche 1 jets to Ukraine multiple times. In August 2023, Denmark and the Netherlands announced they would donate up to 61 F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, which is significantly greater than the number of Tranche 1 Typhoons in RAF service.
As a result, and following detailed conversations with the Ukrainian Government, the UK has decided to focus on supporting the donation of European F-16s to Ukraine, by providing elementary flying training and English language training for technicians and pilots that will then operate F-16s.
24 Ukrainian pilots have graduated from intensive Fast Jet Lead-in training under the guidance of Royal Air Force instructors.
I attended the graduation of Ukrainian pilots trained by the UK last year and can tell the right hon. Member we should be very proud of our role training them, and proud of the brave individuals we train for supporting their freedom.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2025 to Question 23270 on Denmark: Politics and Government, whether the territorial integrity of Greenland was discussed in these meetings.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As the Foreign Secretary and I have repeatedly and publicly made clear, Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark and the future of their constitutional arrangements is a matter for the people and government of Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office officials and I have reaffirmed this position in engagements with Danish and Greenlandic counterparts since January.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has held with international allies regarding Britain’s role in the Joint Expeditionary Force, in the context of his attendance at the Munich Security Conference 2025.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The UK is the framework nation for the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF). Since the Munich Security Conference, the Secretary of State has discussed the JEF with his Norwegian counterpart during a visit to Norway from 19 - 20 February 2025 and at a meeting of JEF Defence Ministers by VTC on 27 February 2025. The Secretary of State will also host a meeting of JEF Defence Ministers in London on 26 March 2025. Additionally, I discussed matters relating to JEF on visits to Finland, Lithuania, Denmark and the Netherland last week.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Gravehawk air defence system recently supplied to Ukraine in countering Russian aerial threats.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Gravehawk is a bespoke air defence system rapidly developed for the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) and jointly funded by the United Kingdom and Denmark. Designed to be capable of engaging air threats in Ukraine, it was tested in the UK prior to transfer to Ukraine, proving basic operating capability.
In Autumn 2024, two prototypes were handed over to the AFU and completed successful testing against representative targets, which confirmed full operating capability. The positive response from the AFU and their subsequent formal request for additional Gravehawk systems corroborated this assessment.
We cannot comment on the operational employment of systems by the AFU.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many full-time permanent MOD staff have worked on coordinating Operation Interflex in each year since 2002.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The table below is based on those who have been involved in co-ordinating Operation INTERFLEX for each of the six Tranches, which to date have delivered more than 51,000 trained Ukrainians. The table includes those assigned to INTERFLEX HQ, the training delivery units and the logistic support element.
Please note the UK delivers Op INTERFLEX in conjunction with our partners. Canada, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, New Zealand, Lithuania, Australia, Romania, Netherlands, Kosovo, and Estonia are all supporting the training programme. Albania will also be joining from the end of February, so UK personnel numbers alone do not represent output of total personnel.
Tranche | Dates from | No of UK Personnel |
1 | Jun-22 | 1,389 |
2 | Jan-23 | 1,270 |
3 | Jul-23 | 1,270 |
4 | Jan-24 | 388 |
5 | Jul-24 | 428 |
6 | Jan-25 | 369 |