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Category: Defence

  • Ben Wallace – 2022 Statement on Ukraine (September 2022)

    Ben Wallace – 2022 Statement on Ukraine (September 2022)

    The statement made by Ben Wallace, the Secretary of State for Defence, in the House of Commons on 5 September 2022.

    It is good to be back after the summer recess, and it is good to see you in your place, Mr Speaker.

    I want to update Members about progress in Ukraine and UK support to date since the House rose for the recess. On 29 August, Ukraine embarked on a counter-offensive in the south of the country, around the city of Kherson on the west bank of the Dnipro river. As part of the shaping fires, Ukraine has inflicted serious damage on a range of river crossings with the aim of restricting Russian logistical support. That has had considerable success. I can report to the House that the Ukrainian forces have made real progress, assaulting on three axes, and especially on the advance to the south of the city of Kryvyi Rih. The grinding fight in the Donbas continues, but with Russia making few substantive gains in the east over the past two months. Since June, Ukraine has struck more than 350 Russian command posts, ammo dumps, supply depots, and other high-value targets far back from the frontline. Many of those have been with longer-range weaponry supplied by international partners, including the United Kingdom.

    As of today, the Ukrainian army is engaging with Russian forces using both artillery and brigade-level operations. It is making real gains, but understandably, as we have seen elsewhere in this conflict, the fighting is close and hard, and Ukraine is suffering losses associated with an attacking force. My thoughts, and the Government’s thoughts, are obviously with the men and women of the brave Ukrainian forces who are fighting to uphold our values as well as theirs, and to defend their land. However, Russia continues to lose significant equipment and personnel. It is estimated that to date more than 25,000 Russian soldiers have lost their lives, and that, in all, more than 80,000 have been killed, have been casualties, have been captured, or constitute the reported tens of thousands of deserters. This will have a long-lasting impact on Russia’s army and its future combat effectiveness. Russia has yet to achieve any of its strategic objectives, and we are now on day 194 of what was expected to be a month-long campaign.

    I know that Members will be worried by reports about the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is the biggest nuclear power station in Europe. On Friday 1 September, the United Nations International Atomic Energy Authority visited the plant accompanied by Russian media. No other international media were allowed to attend. Under the IAEA, an inspection was carried out, and the agency has left a team behind. It has already drawn attention to the violation of the plant’s “physical integrity”, and the United Nations remains gravely concerned about the dangerous situation in and around the plant. We will continue to monitor it, and ensure that we engage with Ukrainian partners to ensure that no one’s safety is put at risk.

    Earlier in the month, Turkey, Russia and the United Nations came to an agreement on grain exports from Ukraine; the so called “Black sea initiative” was put in place. This has now seen over 2 million tonnes of grain exported, with another 100 ships waiting to embark with grain from Ukraine’s ports. I want to place on record the Government’s thanks to both the United Nations and the Turkish authorities for facilitating this—it was no mean feat. We have offered the Turkish military any support they require; to date, the Turkish Government have not requested any support, but we stand ready to do that. The United Kingdom continues to gift military aid to the Ukrainian armed forces to help resist the illegal invasion. Since the end of July, when this House rose, we have gifted a further three M270 guided multiple-launch rocket system platforms, and accompanying missiles. We are now working on an additional package of support. The total funding committed to this support is £2.3 billion.

    In June, I recognised that training is as important as military hardware, which is why we embarked on establishing a network of training camps in the UK to train 10,000 Ukrainians. That was accompanied by specialist armed training across a number of countries in Europe. So far, we have trained 4,700, and I am delighted that over the summer we were joined by forces from Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Lithuania, Canada, Holland and New Zealand; they are all now in place alongside British military personnel delivering that training. The training cycle is now in its third iteration and, after lessons learned, we have now extended it to a five-week syllabus. We are already seeing this make a difference to the combat effectiveness of Ukraine, and we are evolving the course and feedback to make sure that the experiences do exactly what the Ukrainians need.

    Support for Ukraine goes beyond the here and now. Being able to plan for the medium and long term requires international funding. So at the beginning of August, at the invitation of our Danish friends in the Danish Government, I co-chaired with them a conference in Copenhagen. So far, we have amassed pledges of up to €420 million of support, including through an international fund for Ukraine. We are working through the governance of the fund with our international partners and we hope to add to it when I present more details this week to the Ukraine defence contact group convened by the United States in Germany on Thursday. The fund will be used hopefully to support a range of measures, including ammunition production, to ensure that there is a sustainable supply over the long term in Ukraine.

    I would like to place on record my appreciation of the Prime Minister’s enduring support for Ukraine throughout the process, without which a lot would not have been possible. I am grateful, too, for all the support of all the parties in this House for the action we have taken. That allows us to lead on the world stage with determination and a focus on all the things that are right about Ukraine’s defence from an illegal invasion and on the fact that we share such common values of freedom, and respect for sovereignty and the international rule of law. I hope all of us in this House do so—I know from experience that we do so. This Government’s commitment to Ukraine remains unwavering and enduring, and I commend this statement to the House.

  • Jeremy Quin – 2022 Bearskins Clarification Statement

    Jeremy Quin – 2022 Bearskins Clarification Statement

    The statement made by Jeremy Quin, the Minister for Defence Procurement, in the House of Commons on 5 September 2022.

    On 11 July in a debate in Westminster Hall on bearskins, I referred to data on potential faux fur products that had previously been shared with the Department, but I also stated that the Ministry of Defence had not received recent results data. Whilst my statement was in line with advice I had received, further work has revealed that this was not correct, and I wish to correct the record.

    In May 2022 a letter was sent to the Prime Minister by PETA, copying Defence Ministers, enclosing a report against two of the five initial criteria that faux fur would have to meet in order for further work to be done to consider it as a replacement for the guardsmen’s caps. This was passed to officials in the Ministry of Defence, who responded on 15 June 2022 requesting that the report should be sent by the organisation that had conducted the tests direct to our partner, Leidos. We understand an email containing the report was sent but was blocked by Leidos’s spam filters and deleted. Subsequent to the debate, the email was re-sent, copying the MOD. After the MOD forwarded a copy to Leidos it was safely received.

    To date, the Ministry of Defence has not seen a set of verifiable data that demonstrates a single sample of faux fur meets the five criteria. We are aware of testing that was carried out in December 2020 by an accredited testing house against three of the criteria, although the material only passed one of those tests: water penetration. As I have explained, we are also aware of further testing, conducted in April 2022. The MOD does not believe from the information we have seen that the organisation that conducted those tests is accredited by either the UK Accreditation Service or the International Laboratory Accreditation Co-operation. In order to consider taking any proposed product forward, we need test results that have been conducted by an independent and accredited testing house.

    Consequently, we have not to date seen evidence that a suitable faux fur product exists to be considered as an alternative.

    Currently, the foot guards’ ceremonial caps are sourced exclusively from Canada, which is a regulated market and a declared party to the convention on international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora. A CITES permit is required for the export of pelts from Canada to the United Kingdom. Canadian and international laws provide strict trade regulations to protect against unlawful trade in black bears, both within Canada and internationally. No bears are hunted to order for the Ministry of Defence; pelts are a product of legal and licensed hunting authorised in Canada by provincial and territorial Governments with the goal of long-term population sustainability.

  • Boris Johnson – 2022 Letter to Veterans of the UK’s Nuclear Testing Programme

    Boris Johnson – 2022 Letter to Veterans of the UK’s Nuclear Testing Programme

    The letter sent by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 5 September 2022.

    (in .pdf format)

  • Ben Wallace – 2022 Comments on Exercise Vigilant Knife

    Ben Wallace – 2022 Comments on Exercise Vigilant Knife

    The comments made by Ben Wallace, the Secretary of State for Defence, on 4 September 2022.

    Whilst there is war in Europe, it is more important than ever to strengthen our international partnerships. We welcome Finland and Sweden’s application to join NATO and will continue to exercise together so we are ready to face shared security challenges.

    Exercise Vigilant Knife is an invaluable opportunity for UK personnel to develop their skills and experience of warfighting in cold weather conditions, enabling them to be effective on the battlefield alongside their Finnish and Swedish counterparts.

  • Boris Johnson – 2022 Speech at the Commissioning of HMS Anson

    Boris Johnson – 2022 Speech at the Commissioning of HMS Anson

    The speech made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, at Barrow-in-Furness on 31 August 2022.

    Thank you very much Captain Bing.

    Deputy Prime Minister, ladies and gentlemen, it is fantastic to be here in Barrow, which is the crucible of British marine engineering, of course, and the historic vast maternity ward of these steel leviathans.

    And when you look at HMS Anson ladies and gentlemen you are looking at the climax of eleven years of high precision effort by 10,500, brilliant shipwrights, and sonar experts, and weapons engineers – a concentration of talent and expertise that can be mustered by only two or three other countries in the world, at the most.

    And on this special day, we give them our thanks.

    And you’re looking, by the way, at a vessel that is five times as long as the chamber of the House of Commons and I think you will agree is an international argument considerably more persuasive than some of the things that are deployed in the chamber.

    And this is also as the lady sponsor, as the wonderful lady sponsor pointed out this is the home, the place of work, play and rest for one hundred and ten brave submariners at sea, week in week out in the service of our country and to them in anticipation I think we should give our thanks.

    When you’re looking at HMS Anson, you are also looking at a vast UK industrial project that represents all that we mean or certainly all that I mean by levelling up, that’s driving jobs and growth and the acquisition of skills up and down the country, sonar built in Somerset torpedoes built in Portsmouth, propulsion system, I think I might even say from Derby, Rolls Royce in Derby.

    And you will know that those Rolls Royce reactors were, which are shortly going to be fired up, I think for the first time, they are the basis of the small modular reactor programme that this government has commissioned as part of our strategy to ensure that the people of this country get reliable supplies from the UK of the energy, affordable energy, that we need.

    And I’ve just been informed by the by the brilliant people in BAE that these engines run so quietly, that the most important feature of this machine is that for all its enormous bulk.

    And by the way, it’s I think it’s smaller than the dreadnought, but it’s still colossal.

    All its bulk, you cannot hear it coming.

    And I can tell you that I’ve just been out with the Metropolitan Police this morning on a dawn raid.

    Coincidentally, in Lewisham, I think maybe South Norwood.

    And I can tell you how important, is the element of surprise.

    And we arrested a drug dealer, ladies and gentlemen that he was suddenly surprised to see me at the foot of his bed at 530 in the morning, he seemed remarkably pleased actually.

    The element of surprise is crucial. And that is why HMS Anson is so vital for our defence, by leave of the Ministry of Defence and my great friends. The Secretary of State for Defence, I can tell you roughly what this boat does, it doesn’t actually carry the nuclear deterrent itself though it does carry as you know, plenty of other lethal stuff, but it does protect our nuclear deterrent.

    And therefore today, ladies and gentlemen, what we are looking at is the policemen of the world, gathering intelligence protecting our sea lanes cruising up behind you silently you do not even know it’s there and invisibly helping to create that forcefield around us that is warding off attack on NATO countries for 80 years or getting on for 80 years keeping safe, a billion people around the world.

    That is what this machine does.

    And that’s why I’m so pleased, by the way, but under the AUKUS agreements with Australia and with the United States, the technology we hope in the submarine will be used to help keep people safe across the whole of the Pacific region as well.

    Now, some people will continue to insist that this is a weapon of war.

    I tell you that she is a guarantor of peace.

    And in this uncertain world, we need that guarantee more than ever.

    I congratulate all those who designed her. All those who built her. And I know that in the decades to come, all those who are going to set to sea in her.

    And I know that in decades to come, when she’s out at sea, unseen beneath the surface of the water, keeping us safe, we will all remember the day that we were here in Barrow to see HMS Anson commission.

    Thank you, God bless this wonderful submarine and all those who sail in her.

  • Boris Johnson – 2022 Comments on Australian and UK Defence Partnership

    Boris Johnson – 2022 Comments on Australian and UK Defence Partnership

    The comments made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 31 August 2022. There is an associated press release.

    HMS Anson is the perfect example of where levelling up the UK and generating jobs, skills and growth across our country goes hand-in-glove with Global Britain.

    From the Pacific Ocean to the Baltic Sea, our submarine service is protecting the UK and our allies 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and the deployment of Australian submariners alongside our British crews epitomises the strength of the AUKUS partnership.

  • Ben Wallace – 2022 Comments on Australian and UK Defence Partnership

    Ben Wallace – 2022 Comments on Australian and UK Defence Partnership

    The comments made by Ben Wallace, the Secretary of State for Defence, on 31 August 2022. There is an associated press release.

    Today is a significant milestone in the UK and Australia’s preparation to confront growing threats to the liberal democratic order, especially in the Indo Pacific.

    Not only have we progressed our defence planning but Minister Marles participated in the commissioning of our latest attack submarine, on which will Royal Australian Navy submariners will be embarked as we develop our shared capabilities in the years ahead.

    Built in a UK shipyard, HMS Anson demonstrates the very best of British industry, sustaining our world-leading sub-surface capabilities and underlining the UK’s readiness to contribute them to shared security, especially with our closest allies Australia and the United States under the AUKUS initiative.

  • Bernard Jenkin – 2002 Speech to Conservative Spring Forum

    Bernard Jenkin – 2002 Speech to Conservative Spring Forum

    The speech made by Bernard Jenkin, the then Shadow Secretary of State for Defence, on 23 March 2002.

    Recently I attended the Annual Dinner of the Armed Forces Parliamentary scheme – a scheme, which aims give MPs first hand experience of the armed forces. They put us in battle fatigues and take us out on exercise.

    The Prime Minister graced the dinner with his imperial presence. Surprised to see me, he asked: ‘What are you doing here?’

    I said, “Prime Minister, I want to learn about the armed forces. Soon I’ll know more than your Secretary of State.”

    The Prime Minister put me down with a quip. ‘That’s not difficult!’

    Think about that! That is a measure of the Prime Minister’s real confidence in the man responsible for the lives of our servicemen.

    Under this Government, Britain is now committed to a series of open-ended deployments, putting further pressure on our already stretched armed forces. Mr Blair has been dotting them around the globe wherever it makes him feel good. We should not devalue the gold standard of our armed forces in this way.

    Labour wants our Armed Forces to be a ‘force for good’, yet they have little understanding of what it takes to maintain the quality and readiness of the best armed forces in the world.

    We should be making sure our commitments are matched by our capabilities – it is government’s responsibility to square that circle. You only get what you pay for. Over-committing our forces not only tries the patience of the armed services and their families. It erodes their essential fighting capability.

    And look what they are doing to the front line. Britain’s defences are paying an increasingly intolerable price.

    Incredibly, since British troops were first deployed to Afghanistan, Labour has announced a whole series of cuts.

    · An entire Tornado air defence squadron – axed. The very same squadron put on standby after 11th September to defend the skies over London.

    · The Royal Navy’s ENTIRE force of Sea Harriers– axed. These are same Harriers played a key part in winning back the Falklands. Until a few days ago, they were due to remain in service until 2015. This leaves the Navy with no airborne air defence.

    · The axe is falling on Royal Navy ships.

    HMS Fearless – withdrawn a year early:
    HMS Sheffield – mothballed:
    HMS Monmouth – stuck in dock because there is no money for her maintenance programme.

    The army is 7,500 men short – but there is a new Labour solution to that; simply reduce the target size of the Army, so we need fewer men to meet that target – and that’s what they have done!

    This week, the government announced that Britain is to send 1,700 Royal Marine Commandos to Afghanistan to fight in the war against terrorism. Let there be no doubt that we support the principle of this deployment. This is a very grave responsibility: our forces are the best – they deserve better leadership than this Labour Government.

    Just look what Labour tried to do. They tried to make the announcement of the largest single deployment for combat operations since the Gulf War as though it was just routine.

    Considering that this is arguably the most dangerous mission that our forces have taken on for 20 years, it is unbelievable that the Government should fail to offer Parliament the right to debate it fully.

    That was not just a snub to Parliament, or even just a snub to the people Parliament represents. As Michael Portillo said during the debate:
    ‘when our soldiers are being put into such extreme danger, it is a grave discourtesy to them to suggest that the sacrifice that they offer the nation is not worth three hours of debate in Government time’ (Hansard 20 March 2002 Col 352)

    4-5 Commando Royal Marines are undoubtedly some of the finest troops that anyone will find on this earth. They are trained in mountain warfare. They are ideally fitted to this task. And they know they must defeat our enemies—those who threaten our own people in our own country and the peoples of our friends and allies.

    But it is not disloyal or unpatriotic for Parliament to require explanation. That is Parliament’s job – but we had to drag Defence Ministers to the House of Commons to answer concerns expressed from all sides of the House. And the Prime Minister was too busy fighting his own backbenchers about foxhunting, to turn up to a debate about committing to troops to action.

    This episode says everything about Mr Blair’s real sense of priorities.

    Iain Duncan Smith set his clear priority for defence last week. His paper, called A Race Against Time, explains how ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction are proliferating, and destabilising western security. He sets out why and how Britain must confront the growing missile threat. Few politicians in Europe understand the link between 11th September and the threat of weapons of mass destruction. This is why Britain should support the missile defence systems President Bush is offering Europe.

    Instead of helping to galvanise other Governments in Europe to face up to the new threats and instabilities of the post cold war world, the Government’s post 11th September consultation paper on defence does not even mention the word ‘missile’! Labour continues to run scared from its CND MPs and activists.

    This weekend Mr Hoon is in Spain at a meeting of EU defence ministers. What is his priority? He’s gone back to the EU’s defence agenda. Labour promised there was no such thing as a Euro Army. But this week the Spanish defence minister actually said:

    ‘We have formed, we are forming that European Army.’

    Having championed the EU Defence Policy, they have lost control of the agenda. Too late will they realise that this EU Army is already dividing Europe from America. The Euro Army is a dagger pointing at the heart of NATO.

    This debate, and the other debates we are hearing this weekend, underline that Labour is no longer fit for government. But we Conservatives have no automatic right to govern. We have to earn that right. Moreover, it is not our right, but our duty to ensure that we are not just ready for government at the next election, but that the British people really feel they have choice about where to put their vote.

    We are the Party of choice. Together we must offer that choice.

  • Graham Stuart – 2022 Comments on UK calls for the End of Cluster Munitions

    Graham Stuart – 2022 Comments on UK calls for the End of Cluster Munitions

    The comments made by Graham Stuart, the Foreign Office Minister, on 30 August 2022.

    Too many innocent civilians have lost their lives to these weapons of war. Under our Presidency, the UK has driven forward work to eliminate them altogether.

    Every step taken under this Convention, makes the world a safer place – but too many states still refuse to give up cluster munitions. We will continue to speak out against these murderous weapons – as we did in March when we condemned their use in the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine.

    We did so on behalf of the parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Since the Convention was founded 14 years ago, 110 State Parties have ratified it, 13 States have signed up to its objectives but not yet ratified, and 35 states have cleared their stockpiles of cluster munitions.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Armed Forces Minister meets UK troops in Estonia

    PRESS RELEASE : Armed Forces Minister meets UK troops in Estonia

    The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 24 August 2022.

    Armed Forces Minister James Heappey has met UK soldiers protecting NATO’s borders during a visit to Estonia, including his old battalion, 2 Rifles.

    The minister travelled to Tapa, where more than 1,600 British personnel are based, watching troops train and speaking with servicemen and women.

    He also met with Estonia’s newly appointed Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur to discuss our joint work to support Ukraine and uphold European security.

    Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said:

    “Every day our friends here in Estonia live with the threat of a belligerent Russia on the other side of their border.

    Bilaterally and through NATO, the UK will stand firm with Estonia and I’m proud of the way our troops here stand ready to fight whenever, wherever they are needed.”

    More than 800 troops from 1st Battalion, the Royal Welsh currently lead a NATO enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) battlegroup in Estonia. The UK also has a second battlegroup of over 800 from 2nd Battalion, the Rifles in the country after deploying them in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

    Defence Secretary Ben Wallace announced in June that the lethality of these deployments would be enhanced with advanced capabilities including helicopters and artillery systems, as part of an increased UK contribution to NATO. Meanwhile, the UK’s existing HQ in Tallinn will be expanded. Led by a Brigadier, it will support the rapid deployment of high readiness forces at the brigade level.

    The UK will also support Estonia with training and logistics, the development of its first divisional-level HQ, as well as developing new ways of fighting through their joint hosting of the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic European HQ, and supporting innovative dual use start-ups through the NATO Innovation Fund.