With global threats at their most acute since the end of the Cold War, Dr Neil Hudson MP stood up in the House of Commons to welcome the Prime Minister's biggest strengthening of the UK's national defence in a generation, to protect our values, freedom and prosperity.
The announcement was made by the Prime Minister during a speech alongside key NATO allies in Poland that the UK will progress with its fully-funded plan to grow the defence budget to 2.5% of GDP by 2030. He heralded this moment as a turning point in European security and has urged our NATO partners to strive for this new standard in defence spending.
During the Defence Secretary's Ministerial Statement on Defence Spending, Dr Hudson particularly praised Conservative decision makers for their global leadership on Ukraine and asked the Defence Secretary to confirm that "this sensible linear increase in funding on defence" will ramp up our defence industry in order to support our troops and our nation.
Speaking afterwards, Dr Neil Hudson MP said:
"I'm proud of our nation and our Conservative Government, as we show global leadership and courage in the face of increasing security threats.
"The world is becoming a more dangerous place for our nation, and democracy is in the firing line. It is only right then that the Prime Minister is reaffirming our position as the largest defence power in Europe through a long-term fully-costed investment plan that will see an extra £75 billion injected to defend our nation, our values and our freedom. And, with defence investment already benefitting local communities in Warcop, Longtown, Gilsland and elsewhere - I'm confident we will see a direct impact through increased employment, innovation and growth.
"I'm also delighted that the Prime Minister has listened to calls from me and my Conservative colleagues to show our unreserved support for the innocent people of Ukraine who have suffered so much against such abhorrent Russian aggression. For the sake of freedom, democracy and global safety it is so important that Ukraine prevails."
The global security environment is deteriorating. Between increasingly assertive authoritarian states and the spectre of terrorism persevering, the threat to our country and our interests is only becoming more acute.
There are three immediate investment priorities.
First is firing up the UK industrial base, including a further £10 billion over the next decade to bolster the British defence industry. While our domestic defence sector already employs more than 400,000 British jobs, one of the key lessons from Ukraine is that we must deepen munition stockpiles and be able to produce new munitions more quickly.
Second is embracing new technology and innovation that will give us an advantage on the modern battlefield. With an acceleration of new technologies, warfare is fundamentally changing. Through Government's new Defence Innovation Agency, we will develop a plan to scale R&D funding to a minimum of 5% of the defence budget, together with an additional 2% to exploit that R&D, accelerating investments in new weapon systems. We invest in areas that have proven relevant and deliver advantage on the modern battlefield, like drones, air defence, electronic warfare and cyber, and long-range missiles
Lastly is long-term support for our Ukrainian allies which includes the immediate injection of £500 million today and the largest-ever single package of equipment. An expansionist Russia must be deterred before he is allowed to expand further westward.
Dr Hudson has consistently advocated for western democratic nations to continue our support for the nation of Ukraine as you can read in full here.
The immediate increase of £500 million will take us to a total of £3 billion of support this year and will be used to deliver urgently needed ammunition, air defences and drones. The package of equipment includes 400 vehicles, more than 1,600 munitions including additional Storm Shadows, more than 4 million rounds of small arms and 60 boats.
You can read the Prime Minister's full announcement here.
In the Chamber, Dr Neil Hudson MP asked:
"Can I congratulate the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for this very welcome announcement of increased defence spending to 2.5% and for the leadership on funding and support for Ukraine. For the sake of freedom, democracy and global safety it is so important that Ukraine prevails. This announcement shows that it's our Conservative Government that will protect our nation and stand with our allies in the face of increasing international threats.
"Can the Secretary of State confirm that this sensible linear increase in funding on defence will help our defence industry in parallel to ramp up production, meaning that our armed forces will be supported, capable and resilient to be able to keep us and our allies safe?"
Defence Secretary, Grant Shapps, replied:
"I absolutely can confirm that, and one of the features of the way that we've done this is to create a straight line from next year to 2030 to make sure that industrial capacity can ramp up with certainty behind it. So I'm very pleased to confirm the answer is yes."
