Category: Defence

Ben Wallace – 2023 Speech at the D-Day 79 Commemorations

The speech made by Ben Wallace, the Secretary of State for Defence, on 6 June 2023.

Mr. Minister, Your Excellency, veterans, ladies and gentlemen.

Before coming here my officials drafted a speech they thought I might want to deliver.

It celebrated the heroes, objectives captured and the units.

And if I had not served myself I would have no doubt I would have delivered it.

But what I wanted to say today was that this day belongs as much to the ordinary soldier, sailor, airman as it does the outstanding.

Because the 6th June was an achievement of the platoon commanders, the non-commissioned officers, the private, and the airman and then naval rating.

Because it is they who had to conquer first the fear.

Who had to sort order from chaos, and who in the end had to stand up and walk towards the guns.

It was they who had to inspire their section or troops.

They who had no certainty of survival.

Each man on 6 June would have to have rationalised the potential death they faced with themselves.

That was the first obstacle on the day to overcome.

And once that fear was overcome the task of turning the vast enterprise that was Operation Overlord could commence.

As we celebrate the victory of the Allied forces on these beaches 79 years ago today, we should reflect that at this very moment there are men and women of Ukraine trying to overcome that same fear and trepidation.

In assembly areas and on start lines along the vast front, each individual will be mentally preparing themselves for potential death or victory.

They will be experiencing that same anxious feeling in the stomach. They will be trying to think of their home in the same way those Allies who had come from so very far away to this beach, on this day, 79 years ago.

They will be looking to their friends beside them and their Corporals for encouragement or reassurance.

The fear that many of us have witnessed first-hand will be somewhere behind the eyes.

They will be doing what the Free French did so powerfully on this day. They will be fighting for their lands, their soil.

They will be fighting for Europe to be free.

We should not underestimate the challenge it is to go forward under fire.

Attacking is a very different task from defending.

The memorials here today remind us of that.

We must be grateful as a generation that on that day of days courage was on our side.

That despite all the chaos, and fear and noise, it was the ordinary who grabbed their rifle, overcame fear and fought for us all.

June 12, 2023
Ben Wallace – 2023 Speech at 20th IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore

The speech made by Ben Wallace, the Secretary of State for Defence, in Singapore on 3 July 2023.

Good morning and thank you to IISS for hosting. It’s a privilege to be here in Singapore. An island nation and trading powerhouse with which the UK has much in common, not to mention a shared history. And I’m delighted to share this panel with my colleagues from Canada and the Philippines, just two of the nations we’re working closely with to keep strengthening the international order that benefits everyone.

Lots has happened since the last UK Defence Secretary spoke here and the world already looks different in so many ways. We’ve fought off the pandemic. We did that by collaboration, not by isolation. The UK has had three Prime Ministers and we’ve lost our great Queen. Her similarly great namesake, the Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier group, made her maiden visit to the Indo-Pacific in 2021. In that same year, the United Kingdom published the Integrated Review, signalling our increased commitment to this region.

That review has been updated this year and we’re pressing ahead with our ‘tilt’ to the Indo-Pacific, not least becoming ASEAN’s first new Dialogue Partner this century. Of course, events in Europe are focusing us closer to home at the moment.

Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine is forcing a rethink of the Euro-Atlantic security architecture. And it has spurred yet more countries to seek the collective security of NATO membership, precisely what President Putin claimed he was acting to prevent.

But as busy as things are at home, developments continue apace. Indo-Pacific economic performance makes this the world’s undisputed growth engine – 40 per cent of global GDP, 60 per cent of global shipping, home to half the world’s population, and some of the fastest growing and most innovative economies.

But far from seeking to secure blocks of interests, we believe this region offers enormous economic opportunity for all. It’s why European companies and countries are looking east, and why the United Kingdom Government considers our interests to lie as much here as they do in Europe. Indeed, in 2022 our total exports to the Indo-Pacific amounted to £127 billion – a remarkable increase of 22 per cent on the previous year.

Yet just as we seek to benefit from the opportunities here, so must we also share responsibility for the challenges. And in both regards, none are bigger than the “epoch defining” rise of China – as it was described in our Integrated Review Refresh.

We are all now navigating the consequences of China’s rise – both those opportunities and those challenges. Lifting vast numbers out of poverty. Trading with the world. And the undeniable truth, that none of our most fundamental global issues can be solved without engagement with China.

Be they climate change, energy and food security, economic stagnation, tech regulation, nuclear proliferation. But we must also speak plainly and acknowledge that there are also challenges from that ‘rise’. Illegal fishing, tensions in territorial waters, sovereignty disputes, and debt diplomacy.

This session, Mr Chairman, asks ‘how can we create balance and stability in the Indo-Pacific?’ Many do consider that question purely through the lens of China and the balancing of some ‘great power competition’. But we don’t agree it has to be. We can do this in three ways… this might surprise you, coming from a Defence Secretary, but those ways are not primarily military.

First and foremost, by upholding international rules and promoting common standards. Why rules? Because the ‘balance and stability’ we are talking about today is ultimately based on adherence to shared rules.

The Ukraine invasion is a tragic reminder of the terrible costs when leaders disregard human life, national sovereignty, and the rules-based international system. Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, is constantly claiming that the system is simply made up by the US as they go along.

Of course, this is a fabrication. He’s talking about the very system – including the United Nations Charter – that we conceived, including Russia, together after the Second World War and for which we fought together, in the hope of saving future generations from the scourge of war.

Of course, Russia doesn’t want ordinary countries to now benefit from those protections or the freedom to choose because they might not choose Russia. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine – trampling sovereignty and brutalising innocent civilians – is a result of its utter disregard for rules and the belief that ‘might is right’.

Well, they are wrong and that’s being proven by the international community’s determination to enforce those rules. Because rules are agnostic of nations’ military or economic power. They are common to all our needs. Their adherence prevents competition escalating into conflict, and disputes are resolved without fear or favour.

What unites us is that rules apply to us all, regardless of actor or geography. We are all equal in the eyes of the law. It provides a level playing field. It ensures fair play. Which is one of the reasons, I believe, why Singapore has been so successful in recent decades. Because of the respect here for the regulatory environment, anti-corruption, dispute resolution and fair play. If it can work for Singapore, why can’t it work elsewhere?

Whether you are the smallest country seeking to protect your fishing rights, or the largest seeking a greater share of global trade, the rules-based system is there to protect and enable us all. Yes all, including China. It is why the UK strongly believes so strongly in protecting the rights of littoral states in their Exclusive Economic Zones, as well as in the importance of upholding the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

We reject any claims that do not adhere to its tenets. Attempts to restrict the global commons are fundamentally damaging to us all and our trade. If international treaties bearing the signature of 157 parties are junked on a whim, this represents an attack not just on one treaty, but on the entire international system.

So, the United Kingdom will continue to demonstrate that all parties stick as close as possible to UNCLOS. Because responsible powers have a duty to protect international rules. And neither can they take a back seat in evolving those rules as well. We want a system of 21st century laws designed by all, for all.

The second way we maintain balance and stability is by backing free trade.

The UK has always believed in free commerce and capital flows. The more we open up competition, the more we reduce overdependence and build resilience. And neither can we afford to ‘decouple’, commercially or diplomatically.

We believe the best resilience comes from diversification, not from protectionism. That’s why the UK is working to diversify our supply chains. It’s why we have done deals with Japan, Australia and, of course, Canada, and why we will be enthusiastic new members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

You cannot put a price on the ability to sell to 500 million people with a combined GDP of £11 trillion. And we’re building on that momentum having signed free trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand – as well as Singapore, Japan, Vietnam and the Republic of Korea.

Third, and finally, the way we preserve stability is through the promotion of our principles and values.

Coming to Shangri-la and visiting Singapore I feel immediately at home. Despite very different national systems, we share many of the same principles and values. The belief that all nations have the right to chart their own course. Instinctive understanding of the importance of global trade. And above all, a belief in fair play.

You don’t need to have mastered the rules of cricket to know that fair play is ingrained in the British psyche. No matter how big or small you are, how rich or poor, we believe nations should treat each other fairly, with respect. The UN conventions reinforce that and as a P5 nation, we believe we have a responsibility to help uphold those rules around the globe.

And that’s where Defence does come in, because it has an important supporting role to play, not just in hard power projection but soft power promotion. The skills and capability of our Armed Forces are there to help friends when they’re in trouble, from humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, to crisis management and civilian evacuations. And ultimately, in times of conflict.

I know you share that view, many of you here. We’ve seen it in Ukraine. Alongside our troops training Ukrainians in the United Kingdom are Australians, New Zealanders, as well as Canadians. The US-chaired Ukraine Defense Contact Group now includes many countries represented in this room. And we appreciate the very material support that you are sending to Ukraine to help return stability to our continent. And that’s because you recognise, as our PM said recently, that Atlantic and Pacific security is indivisible. Our security is your security.

And that’s why the UK is becoming more proactive and more persistently engaged in the Indo-Pacific. We have been using HMS Spey and Tamar – our two Royal Navy ships, permanently deployed in the region – to deliver humanitarian aid to tsunami-hit Tonga. To help enforce the sanctions regime against DPRK. And to undertake 16 port visits and over 20 regional exercises.

We have expanded our network of Defence Attachés and regional defence staff – including the recently restored Defence Section in Manila, Philippines – to deepen our understanding and influence in over 20 countries. And we’ve been growing our wider Defence presence in the region, whether here in Singapore, our garrison in Brunei, or the recent Reciprocal Access Agreement with Japan.

As a result of all this we’ve been able to increase our tempo, conducting over 60 defence activities in the last two years alone, from exercises and training teams to staff talks and personnel exchanges. And, as I speak, there are 45 officers from the regional partners here today attending professional military education courses back in the United Kingdom. And all that activity helps to build partnerships. Because it is only by deepening friendships, knitting together a tapestry of partners and allies, that we can collectively secure our populations and our interests.

The UK is a proud member of the Five Power Defence Arrangements. The region’s ‘original’ defence arrangement – established when its security landscape looked very different. We celebrated the FPDA’s 50th anniversary in 2021 and, from my discussions while here, I’m convinced it has an even more important role to play in the years ahead. In parallel, we’re now entertaining new partnerships with the recent announcements on AUKUS and GCAP with Japan and Italy. And for the avoidance of doubt, these are not just about countering threats, or the submarines and planes that we’re building.

They’re about the collaborative efforts that underpin them – partnering for technology-transferring, skill-sharing, information exchanges. They are national and generational enterprises. They will allow us to sustain our capabilities over the long term, and they’ll strengthen our supply chain resilience to help us prosper through the 2020s and 2030s. That’s why ASEAN is also so important. And why – in recognition of ‘ASEAN centrality’ – I formally applied in March this year for the UK to join ADMM-Plus.

It’s this ‘partnership principle’ that runs through everything we’re doing in UK Defence, as much as it does in our trade. It’s in our refreshed Integrated Review and will shortly be reinforced in our Defence Command Paper Refresh. And it’s central to every defence engagement, every exchange programme and capability programme, every exercise or operation.

In 2025 our Carrier Strike Group will be returning to the Indo-Pacific. It’s a great symbol of our partnership approach. Showing that, in a more turbulent world the UK will not retreat to its own shores but continue sailing far over the horizon. Using our unique convening power to bring like-minded partners together, wherever they are in this world.

Protecting our freedom to navigate and operate today and shaping our ability to travel and trade, long into the future. So we can focus on what really matters.

Building the best possible future for all our people.

June 12, 2023
Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2023 Speech to the First Sea Lord’s Sea Power Conference
The speech made by Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the Minister for the Indo-Pacific, at Lancaster House in London on 16 May 2023.

Sir Ben, thank you and thank you, Viktorija. Thank you to the Council on Geostrategy for bringing us together today through this lens of the First Sea Lord’s annual conference to discuss those challenges of maritime security in its many guises in this growing and challenging global environment.

Good morning to all of you here, and I know also a wider but equally august crowd online. It’s always great to see Lancaster House being put to good use in bringing great minds together from military, academic to industrial leadership…. As well as you may have noticed, the pomp and ceremony it was part of for the coronation just a few days ago.

It is always a pleasure to welcome – and I know I am allowed to say this, I asked permission first, my mother is French, so I’d like to particularly welcome our French colleagues and Admiral Vandier to the place where the Lancaster House Treaties have been negotiated over decades.

As an island nation and a global trading power, the UK is constantly focused on the seas and oceans, and as James mentioned, we’ve been doing it a long time – since Queen Elizabeth the First we have made use of the global waterways for our prosperity, and have been leaders in ensuring we can defend them for our security, but also for the peace and freedom of many others.

Day to day, as over a third of the UK’s food is imported, the protection of maritime trade routes has a direct effect on all our daily lives – and perhaps we don’t do enough to ensure that our citizens really understand the importance of the Royal Navy’s daily workload.

Globally, 3 billion people rely on the sea for their food security: more than ever, this now brings new levels of challenge around responsible stewardship of the marine habitats that sustain us all, with the need for protein which nations with growing young populations need.

So as we provide leadership in the protection of sustainable ocean habitats, we are also charged with supporting those smaller nations for whom defending and protecting their EEZs, – their exclusive economic zones, which sovereign states under UNCLOS have sovereign rights over to explore and use their own marine resources.

This is proving less than straightforward when faced with those large distant fishing fleets who don’t share or respect their responsibilities.

In my recent visit to the Philippines, I was struck by the existential threat felt from the gangs of Chinese militia boats gathered overfishing overfishing shoal waters, leaving local fishermen under daily threat.

The maritime domain is under increasing pressure from systemic competition, driven by those resource needs, and is facing levels of threat and coercion not seen since World War 2. I believe that its therefore right to say we are genuinely entering a ‘new maritime century’.

The reality is that maritime protection needs have never gone away, but rather that we have should always have remained focused on the maritime.

With constrained defence budgets, and post the fall of the Berlin Wall, which perhaps brought a naïve assumption of peaceful times ahead, followed by land wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the maritime has been quietly getting on with its job without as much attention as it needed.

Our Royal Navy continues to make us proud as the great guardian of our nation’s security near and far, and is respected and welcomed around the globe by our friends and allies. The expertise and trust which others share in our sailors continues to be a powerful deterrent to those who would flout the laws of the sea.

The Royal Navy guards our national security and wider maritime stability – the leading European nation in NATO, bringing our Continuous At Sea Deterrent submarine enterprise to the defence of all, and forging the alliances and partnerships around the world that make us all safer and protect our ways of life.

The threats we face today and in the years ahead may seem diverse and indeed far away, but they are all interconnected. It is vital if we are to continue to maintain freedom of navigation both for
- civilian shipping
- safe use of the sea for sourcing clean energy
- and the sustainable management of the sea and seabed’s natural resources
that we build and deliver multi-pronged strategies.

Threats to global supply chains, the militarisation of the seas, and the erosion of global norms like freedom of navigation are more real than perhaps many of our UK citizens can imagine in our calm European waters.

The degradation of fish stocks, and the precariousness of maritime livelihoods has the potential to wreak havoc with many nations’ basic ability to feed their people. The fair management and sustainable harvesting of the sea’s resources is critical to maintaining peaceful, thriving communities.

The region which poses the greatest opportunity but also risks to UK interests is the Indo-Pacific.

For too many here in Europe, this seems far away and can be ignored in favour of those urgent tactical crises much closer to home, in Ukraine. But that misses the point of the indivisibility of the Euro-Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific to global challenges.

So to ensure it is those opportunities which prevail, rather than the risks of disturbed or broken sea lanes and the safety of maritime sovereignty, our naval colleagues all need to work together to ensure the Indo-Pacific remains stable and free together.

This is why the Indo-Pacific is at the heart of our long-term foreign policy strategy, as we restated in our Integrated Review Refresh published in March – it is crucial to sustaining free trade, freedom of action, and freedom from coercion.

Sixty percent of global shipping passes through the region, for which stability there has a direct impact on households and businesses right here. When I am trying to explain to constituents what this all means, why I am on a plane half of my life going to visit countries very, very far away, I try and set it out by saying that it is about the goods we purchase every day, from your washing machine to the prawns in the supermarket. They come by ship through the South China Seas and those wider sea routes. If those routes become blocked, or unsafe for civilian shipping, the economic shocks would be dramatic.

Beyond the present dependencies, more than half of global growth is projected to come from the Indo -Pacific by 2050, so we need to ensure the UK is right at the heart of the region’s successful future – so we must be alive to the threats, working with allies to counter them, so that in concert our businesses and people can maximise the UK’s interests and opportunities.

The Indo-Pacific, beyond its growing potential to be an economic powerhouse, is also full of potential for clean energy resources, and the UK wants to be able to continue to bring our world leading expertise in clean energy, from wind to nuclear, to support and help to build sustainable business growth and livelihoods.

So in our agreements and partnerships with nations from Vanuatu to the Republic of Korea, from Bangladesh to Indonesia, the UK is focused on bringing our expertise to support positive impacts in coastal communities, alongside building expertise in marine science, and sharing educational resources.

But all of this depends on ensuring that the maritime environment for all these Indo-Pacific countries is safe and free from coercive shipping which would restrict their potential in their own waters.

The UK government’s £500 million Blue Planet Fund is an important part of our leadership on marine issues, supporting developing countries to protect the environment and reduce poverty. It is one of the tools in our armoury to deliver the challenges set out in the Integrated Review Refresh, to tackle biodiversity loss, to halt and reverse plastic pollution, and to protect 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030.

This is work which we will deliver most effectively working with our key naval partners, especially through our Anglo-French alliance set on an even stronger course after our recent Anglo-French summit. These are tough targets because the oceans always have the power to surprise.

As with so many coastal regions, the North Sea – alongside my constituency’s 64 mile border in the North of England – can be both friend and foe. It’s giving us vast new resources of sustainable offshore wind power, but ferocious storms and the coldest climate in the country. Storm Arwen ripped through my patch in November 2021 and we are even now only starting to see normality resume with the opening of the National Park this spring after forestry was devastated.

The ferocity of Storm Arwen took everyone by surprise. But it was nothing compared to that which hit Ukraine last year, as Russia illegally invaded a sovereign neighbour. And whilst NATO and many other nations from around the world are doing all we can to support the Ukrainian war effort and their humanitarian needs, we should not overlook the maritime challenges the Ukraine crisis has created.

Economically, a secure, stable Black Sea is essential not only to rebuild Ukraine’s future, but because it is the sea lane which provides a vast proportion of the grain and fertiliser needs of East Africa and beyond.

The world needs those exports from the ‘breadbasket of Europe’ to resume and stabilise, alongside Ukraine’s need to deliver to the world for its own economic success. Trade and security go hand in hand, and it’s our navies who defend and ensure these flows of goods can continue safely.

We should also be much more comfortable in confronting the fact that the strategic link between maritime security in the Euro-Atlantic and in the Indo-Pacific are indivisible.

Where Russian actions flout the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, this provides China with an excuse also to disregard international norms, to ignore the rules-based international system for their benefit, destroying the option of a free and open Indo-Pacific for all.

So as we approach the NATO summit in Vilnius – I know we’re joined by Admiral Gilday and Rear Admiral Skoog Haslum this morning – the increasingly strong demonstration of defence in the Baltic, to deal with the urgent tactical situation we face, needs to demonstrate the capability and intent of those of us determined to defend free, safe and open global waters.

The NATO partnership, through our transatlantic bonds, are keeping more than a billion citizens secure. But the rest of the world’s oceans and seas do not feel free and open to too many of the Indo-Pacific countries I visit week in week out as the UK’s Indo-Pacific minister.

So the UK, as a committed global maritime partner, is finding new ways to bring our expertise and support to the region. Perhaps the most challenging, exciting and long-term is AUKUS, a trilateral agreement to create an arc of defence and deterrence for the Indo-Pacific.

AUKUS demonstrates how longstanding partners can come together to tackle the new threats. Together with the US and Australia, we are going to build a new global and interoperable nuclear-powered submarine capability, that will not only support a free and open Indo-Pacific, but will also strengthen UK contribution to NATO in Europe.

AUKUS will create that next generation of expert engineers, welders, logisticians, programme managers, data analysts, regulators, and machinists to mention but a few, who will be building these new boats, alongside the need for growth in the number of submariners serving in the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy, with an extensive skill set needed to safely operate nuclear-powered submarines – and we will maximise our impact by creating a shared workforce.

This will bring new well-paid jobs for whole life careers for a growing workforce in Barrow, Plymouth, Rosyth and Faslane in the UK, alongside whole new workforces in Adelaide and Perth in Australia. This is not without its challenges, and the UK has a leading role to play in ensuring that our commitment to this huge military programme of work is a national endeavour here in the UK.

AUKUS submarines are part of Australia’s defence programme, but the Royal Navy and the UK’s submarine industrial enterprise will be critical to their success. Not since JFK’s determination to put a man on the moon, and NASA’s all encompassing national focus – where even the cleaners believed they were integral to the success of the project – has there been such a challenge to our industries and education systems.

Our universities and schools need to have AUKUS at the heart of their STEM programmes, so that every young person in school today has the chance to choose a lifetime career which is part of AUKUS:
- a global project designed to build submarines – yes
- a multifaceted activity to design new technologies of weaponry and undersea deterrence – yes
but perhaps most importantly, to be part of the commitment by the UK to grow the capabilities of our allies to defend their backyard, to keep the Indo-Pacific free and open, so that those nations who cannot defend themselves know that the AUKUS family is alongside them.

I hope that, by laying the groundwork with our partners now, by investing in the solutions of the future, the threats from Indo-Pacific nations who demonstrate coercive behaviours in those waters, will understand that the UK stands firmly alongside our Indo-Pacific neighbours to weather any storms.

We must not turn away.

What we must do – given the scale of the challenge – is to come together, in partnership with friends old and new, to deter and defend against threats to maritime stability, and to ensure our strategic advantage in the maritime domain.

Interoperability with our allies will be a core source of strength. Interchangeability will make us stronger still.

Navies need to combine their power with diplomatic support, while our diplomatic efforts need to amplify our willingness and capacity to protect our collective interests, whether in home waters or across the world.

The Navy’s Maritime Domain Awareness Programme is our gold standard for using our security expertise to build trust, partnership and capabilities, including with Middle Ground countries under pressure from revisionist states.

Strong deterrence and joint working are its watchwords.

And so my call to action today is to take the long view. It’s for an end to the ‘seablindness’ that can creep into an ever more complex foreign policy, and for a look into foreign policy priorities in every aspect of the processes of naval planning.

Ultimately, it’s our combined commitment to bring together our collective wisdom, listening to those few with deep expertise in delivery of maritime security through decades of confrontations under our oceans.

These challenges are not new, but ensuring success requires that we all lean in to deliver on our commitment. And the rationale for AUKUS is because the Indo-Pacific is a really huge expanse of water. We need more submarine capability providing deterrence in the only stealth environment remaining, across these vast areas.

We will only deliver the pace needed if we make this a national endeavour. If we don’t get our deterrence posture right, coercion could become aggression all too quickly.

But if we do, we can assure the security and prosperity not only for my constituents, but for all those who are banking on us.

Thank you.
May 25, 2023
James Cartlidge – 2023 Speech at the Sea Power Conference

The speech made by James Cartlidge, the Minister for Defence Procurement, at the Sea Power Conference held at Lancaster House in London on 16 May 2023.

It’s a great pleasure to be here and even to those like me with no naval background, Sir Henry Leach needs no introduction.

It is a great honour to have been asked to deliver this lecture in his name, especially with his daughter Henrietta here in the audience.

With many distinguished guests, colleagues and of course senior chiefs and indeed from our many allies around the world – it’s a great pleasure to meet and see all of you.

During the Falklands conflict, as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s so-called “knight in shining gold braid”, Sir Henry played a pivotal role in ensuring the Iron Lady stuck to her guns and secured freedom for the islanders.

Yet as we prepare to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Battle of the Atlantic next weekend, we shouldn’t forget that Sir Henry’s early years were spent as a midshipman and later First Lieutenant in the stormy seas of the Second World War.

Indeed, he had been assigned to serve on HMS Prince of Wales until his father Captain John Leach was given command of the ship.

Tragically, Captain John went down with his ship just two days after the pair had enjoyed a gin sling and swim together.

Despite such tragedy, Sir Henry distinguished himself in the war and as a junior lieutenant, was in charge of one of the 14-inch gun turrets in the battleship Duke of York which helped sink the German battlecruiser Scharnhorst off the North Cape in December 1943.

There can be little doubt that such formative experiences helped shape the character and resilience of the man who went onto become First Sea Lord.

A man who, when asked for his view on whether or not to send a taskforce to the Falklands, replied firmly: “It is not my business to say whether we should or not, but if we do not, if we pussyfoot in our actions and do not achieve complete success, in another few months we shall be living in a different country whose word counts for little.”

On the surface 2023 appears to have very little in common with 1943.

Yet, as Royal Navy and Allied warships sail to the Mersey ahead of three days of Battle of the Atlantic commemorations, it is striking how many of those challenges from Leach’s early wartime experiences remain relevant for us.

We might not be at war but we find ourselves once more having to confront the resurgence of state-based dangers.

President Putin is blockading trade in the Black Sea, threatening the undersea cables which support everyday life and increasing activity in the South Atlantic.

And just as in the Second World War, the threats are truly global.

We see, for example, in the South Pacific, that China is continuing to expand its Navy while using its military and economic might to intimidate its neighbours.

Again, much like the Battle of the Atlantic, we know these maritime challenges – coupled with the diverse dangers of terrorism and global criminal networks – will unfortunately endure.

Because the world is more dependent than ever on the oceans.

Global financial markets dependent upon tens of thousands of miles of underwater cabling.

90% of UK trade is carried by sea.

And climate change is expected to raise the stakes – resulting in new sea lanes and accessible natural resources in the High North as temperatures rise and ice caps melt.

So, Sir Henry would not be surprised to find his beloved Royal Navy more in demand than ever.

Over the last year, our ships have been all over the world.

Supporting NATO in Eastern Europe, leading exercises and training Ukrainian sailors in mine clearance.

Operating in the High North alongside partners in the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF).

And conducting numerous weapons and drugs busts in the Gulf region.

All the while, demonstrating the very best of naval soft power around the globe with HMS Tamar and Spey visiting some 15 countries, delivering medical support to Pitcairn and emergency support to Tonga after the devastating volcano.

And who could forget the poignant role they have played at home? With 140 naval ratings pulling the Queen’s coffin through Westminster on the day of her funeral.

As well as those who marched through the streets of London in the King’s coronation processions earlier this month.

So to those of you here today – and indeed all those who couldn’t make it – thank you for doing your duty for our country.

However, the Sea Power Conference is not an arena for self-congratulation.

As you all know our challenge now is to move our thinking on from the past and present to the future.

None of us has a crystal ball. But here’s what we do know.

We know the threats are growing.

We know that rising demand is colliding with tighter budgets.

And we know, in Sir Henry’s words, that, “effective deterrence involves maintaining a high state of readiness, being well equipped and trained, and deploying wherever and whenever the situation demands.”

How, then, can we reconcile these competing objectives?

To my mind we must borrow three lessons from the Battle of the Atlantic.

Lesson one is about strengthening that key stakeholder our industrial base.

In the Second World War, our force depended on the enormous power of our sovereign industries.

With great yards on the Clyde, Mersey and Tyne churning out mighty warships at a rate of knots.

Now, we’re determined to reinvigorate the famous British maritime sector.

Not just so we can produce the hard power required to succeed in this more dangerous era.

But so the sector itself becomes a kind of soft power deterrent – showing our adversaries that our small island has the capability to keep making battle-winning ships for as long as it takes.

And we’re going to achieve that by providing industry with a clear demand signal – with a fresh pipeline of cutting-edge vessels coming in over the next 30 years including Dreadnoughts, Astutes, SSN-AUKUS, Fleet Solid Support ships and next-generation frigates.

By working much more closely with suppliers, giving them the confidence to invest and upskill in the right areas.

And by helping them win commercial and export orders in major new global markets.

The totality overall demand or demand signal is something I’ve thought about and will do much more in future as Procurement Minister.

We’re also supporting the next generation of shipwrights by investing in training programmes and skills academies.

With the likes of Babcock, BAE and others as they put apprentices and graduates through their paces around the country.

Ensuring we have a powerful on-shore advanced manufacturing skills base for decades to come, so that the Royal Navy always has the firepower it needs to carry out its plans.

Lesson two is about encouraging innovation across the sector.

The advent of radar and sonar helped swing the Battle of the Atlantic our way in days gone by.

But today, technologies are advancing at a frightening pace.

AI, for example, is already revolutionising the way data and satellite imagery is informing decision-making in battle, while also enabling forces to carry out dangerous missions with uncrewed aircraft, vehicles and ships.

If we don’t stay ahead of the curve there is a risk that vessels designed in 2023 could be obsolete in ten years’ time frankly a lot less.

Part of that is about integrating new technologies onto existing platforms.

And this is where NavyX comes in, the team with the mission to get new technologies from the drawing board to the frontline as quickly as possible.

And to help them do that, they’ve got the new and unique Experimental Vessel Patrick Blackett.

Named after the former sailor and Nobel Prize winning scientist, Patrick Blackett provides the safe environment we need to test all the game-changing ideas coming over the horizon.

Now we just need to make the most of it.

By working with the regulator to unlock the maximum potential of Patrick Blackett and future technology.

While adapting our existing platforms in the here and now, to ensure we stay one step ahead of our adversaries.

Which brings me onto my third and final lesson. The importance of partnerships.

Sir Henry wouldn’t have got far in the Battle of the Atlantic without the support of allies like France and later the US and Canada.

As we are seeing today in Ukraine, great partnerships are still a great capability in their own right.

And this year we’re also celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Polaris Sales Agreement.

A major part of one of the most enduring bilateral relationships in history, it saw the US supplying us with our very first nuclear missiles, heralding the start of the ultimate deterrent which has kept us safe from the most extreme threats ever since.

The truth is that while our adversaries lack allies they can trust, we are part of a large family united by values we’ve fought and died to protect – Freedom, justice and a commitment to democracy.

And as the dangers around us grow, we’re seeing a renewed commitment to NATO across the board.

That’s why, here in the UK, the Navy is making a substantial commitment to NATO’s New Force Model – including our Carrier Strike Group – in addition to regular contributions to NATO operations.

But we’re also operating on a smaller multi-lateral level, ramping up our collaboration with our partners in the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) which is the 10-nation coalition aiming to preserve peace in Northern Europe.

Over the last year, the JEF has been at the forefront of providing military, economic and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

Joint patrols, led by the British Type 23 frigate HMS Richmond, have been joined by Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian, and Danish ships, supported by Swedish and Danish fighter aircraft.

And last year we held Exercise Cold Response near Norway, one of the biggest exercises in Europe since the end of the Cold War.

We’re also strengthening our partnerships beyond Europe.

In the Indo-Pacific, which we all know is one of the main strategic chokepoints in the world, we are persistently operating two ships to reassure allies and partners, while helping to uphold freedom of navigation in the region.

By 2030, our five new Type-31 frigates will further enhance our global reach.

And at an industrial level, the T-26 continues to garner interest in the export market, having already been selected for the Hunter class frigate programme in Australia and the Surface Combatant programme in Canada.

But you and I know there is much more we can do.

And one of my priorities will be to make sure we get even more out of our international ties both at an operational and industrial level.

The three lessons I’ve outlined today – strengthening industry, encouraging innovation and bolstering partnerships – are embodied in what is our most powerful partnership of the last few decades – AUKUS.

AUKUS is not just creating thousands of skilled jobs here in the UK, strengthening our industrial base.

And it’s not just enabling the sharing of skills and expertise as we break new ground together on cutting-edge designs.

But, crucially, it’s uniting three great allies as we work together to protect our common interests.

That is the benchmark for the kind of deals we’re looking to make in the coming months and years.

So, as I’ve said, we’re living at a dangerous time.

A period of rising dangers.

But some things have not changed.

Our maritime power is as important as it has ever been.

So we must do everything we can to enhance Sir Henry’s great legacy through industry, through innovation and through international partnerships.

We must continue to channel his great willpower and his great belief in the values that underpin our daily lives.

Because, if we do not, the warning he gave to Mrs Thatcher still holds true; “We shall be living in a different country whose word counts for little”.

May 23, 2023
Ben Wallace – 2023 Speech at DSEI Japan

The speech made by Ben Wallace, the Secretary of State for Defence, made in Japan on 15 March 2023.

Thank you for the kind welcome you showed to me and my team from the United Kingdom. We’re all delighted to be here.

In 1964, Honda Formula One entered into global motorsport, and the rest is history. Six constructors championships, six driver championships, and in turn 223 podiums and 89 race victories. When I was younger I used to race motocross. I had a Suzuki and was always beaten by Kawasaki.

Britain’s partnership with advanced engineering in Japan is not new. In fact, it goes over many decades. It’s a 60 year partnership with Honda and Formula One. And we know that as we go forward with GCAP, it’ll be an equally long and enduring relationship. GCAP is a strategic partnership to create a sixth generation fighter. I’m excited not only because it’s a great partnership of these three nations, bridging Europe and the Pacific, but also because we’re one of the first to lead the sixth generation development.

It’s going to fuse the best of all of our technologies. And we’re going to not only be partners but we’re also customers. I think that is important also to remember. We’re going to unlock paths and new technologies, new platforms, export markets and potential new partners, but lock in a strategic partnership of liberal open democracies, who believe in the rule of law and upholding international values across the world that are threatened so strongly today. It’s a global partnership. It’s not a local partnership.

GCAP isn’t going to be a short love affair. It’s going to be a marriage. AUKUS was another project we announced this week – the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, developing the next generation of nuclear attack submarines. That’s a 20, 30, 40 year programme. And GCAP will also be of a similar length. So when we as the nations committed to this programme, there’s no going back. The three partners have to keep each other going with forward momentum. There’s no changing our mind at the end of the decade or halfway through because to do so is to let each other down. People don’t like letting teams down and nor should they and industry must also share that overall responsibility. Industry mustn’t look just to itself and its own shareholders. It’s got to look across because as ministers and Chief of Air Staff, our job is to deliver a requirement to defend our nations and that goes above all else. It goes above individual industry self interest, it will go above shareholder interest and that has to be the overruling principle that must guide this.

So as we progress to the next phases, let’s remember that at the heart of this it’s about defending our democracies and our values. It will not only help deliver a sixth generation fighter, but will also help other industries and complement other developments.

GCAP from the United Kingdom’s point of view, we will be investing £2 billion up to 2025 and £10 billion over the next 10 years. The overall development programme will be above £25 billion over the next 10 years and they’ll share designs and hopefully get towards development by 2025. And in service to Japan by 2035, a key milestone, a milestone that we must all meet and all deliver for the Japanese. It’s incredibly important that we don’t let this slip.

The next milestone this year is the agreement of the system’s requirements. And I will add my own air force to make sure that the requirements are common amongst all three air forces and kept consistent. 2025 is the development phase and the flying phase is towards the end of the decade or early 2030s. I think it’s incredibly exciting.

When you look at the lead industries engaged in this, BAE, Mitsubishi, Leonardo, Rolls Royce, IHI. It’s some of the world leading companies that are going to be contributing to sixth generation capability. I think we should all be incredibly proud we’ve got to this stage, but momentum is important. Keeping our side of the bargain will be very, very important. Unlocking the potential of SMEs to collaborate and recognising that this sixth generation fighter will unlock a whole new hope for global air dominance, global export markets, and lay the foundation for thousands of jobs for all our countries and our taxpayers, who after all, are contributing to make this a reality. Thank you.

March 15, 2023
Rishi Sunak – 2023 Statement at AUKUS Trilateral Press Conference

The statement made by Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, in San Diego on 13 March 2023.

Sixty years ago, here in San Diego, President Kennedy spoke of: “A higher purpose – the maintenance of freedom, peace and…security”.

Today, we stand together, united by that same purpose.

And recognising that to fulfil it we must forge new kinds of relationships to meet new kinds of challenge – just as we have always done.

In the last 18 months, the challenges we face have only grown.

Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine…

China’s growing assertiveness…

The destabilising behaviour of Iran and North Korea…

…all threaten to create a world defined by danger, disorder, and division.

Faced with this new reality, it is more important than ever that we strengthen the resilience of our own countries.

That’s why the UK is today announcing a significant uplift in our defence budget.

We’re providing an extra £5bn over the next two years, immediately increasing our defence budget to around 2.25% of GDP.

This will allow us to replenish our war stocks.

And modernise our nuclear enterprise, delivering AUKUS and strengthening our deterrent.

Our highest priority is to continue providing military aid to Ukraine, because their security is our security.

And we will go further to strengthen our resilience.

For the first time, the United Kingdom will move away from our baseline commitment to spend 2% of GDP on defence to a new ambition of 2.5%.

Putting beyond doubt that the United Kingdom is – and will remain – one of the world’s leading defence powers.

But ultimately, the defence of our values depends, as it always has…

…on the quality of our relationships with others.

Those alliances will be strengthened through AUKUS…

…the most significant multilateral defence partnership in generations.

AUKUS matches our enduring commitment to freedom and democracy…

…with the most advanced military, scientific, and technological capability.

Nowhere is that clearer than in the plans we’re unveiling today for the new Aukus submarine…

…one of the most advanced nuclear-powered subs the world has ever known.

Those plans could not happen without cutting-edge American technology and expertise…

…so I pay tribute to you, Mr President, for your leadership.

And to you, Prime Minister, for your vision of what Aukus can achieve.

For our part, the UK comes to this with over sixty years’ experience of running our own fleet.

We’ll provide the world-leading design, and build the first of these new boats…

…creating thousands of good, well-paid jobs in places like Barrow and Derby.

And we will share our knowledge and experience with Australian engineers so they can build their own fleet.

Our partnership is significant not just because we are building these submarines together…

…they will also be truly interoperable.

The Royal Navy will operate the same submarines as the Australian Navy.

We will both share components and parts with the US Navy.

Our submarine crews will train together, patrol together, and maintain their boats together.

They will communicate using the same terminology and the same equipment.

And through AUKUS, we will raise our standards of nuclear non-proliferation.

This is a powerful partnership.

For the first time ever, it will mean three fleets of submarines working together across both the Atlantic and Pacific…

…keeping our oceans free, open, and prosperous for decades to come.

Joe, Anthony –

We represent three allies who have stood shoulder to shoulder together for more than a century.

Three peoples who have shed blood together in defence of our shared values.

And three democracies that are coming together again…

…to fulfil that higher purpose of maintaining freedom, peace, and security…

…now and for generations to come.

March 14, 2023
Johnny Mercer – 2023 Op-ed on the Launch of the Veterans Welfare Review

The Op-ed, originally published in the Daily Express, by Minister for Veterans’ Affairs Johnny Mercer and republished by the Government as a press release on 2 March 2023.

Veterans deserve as much support off the battlefield as they had on it. While the vast majority of our military personnel go on to live happy, healthy and successful lives, for those who struggle after leaving service, getting the right help – in employment, housing and health – can be an absolute lifeline.

It might be an infantry soldier leaving the Army after ten years, and looking for advice on what to do next. Or a sailor who left the Navy two decades ago, and who has been coping fine – until the death of a loved one brings back painful memories from the past. Whatever the circumstances, our veterans need to be able to access support that is human, sensitive and that works for them.

So today I and the Minister for Defence People, Veterans and Service Families are jointly launching a review into welfare provision for veterans that come under the umbrella of Veterans UK.

We’re doing this for two reasons.

First, because we have a moral duty to give our former service personnel the best help we can. They risk their lives for this country. The least we can do is make sure the support they’re given meets the needs of today. Yet for too long veterans services have suffered from under-investment, and been over-reliant on paper records and outdated tech. This is 2023. We live in a digital age – and it’s time our services reflected that. That’s why I have personally pledged to finally deliver the Veterans Digital ID card this year, to make it easier for ex-service personnel to access services across the country.

The second reason is a by-product of the fact that under this government, veterans’ issues are finally getting the political priority they deserve. In 2019 we launched the Office for Veterans’ Affairs, which drives government support for former service personnel from the heart of government.

We’ve stepped up in areas such as health, with the creation of Op Courage, the veterans mental health and wellbeing service in England. In the coming weeks we will launch a new chronic pain service, which will create one simple clear path for veterans who have injuries from their time in the military to access care for long-term pain. And this year we will end veteran homelessness through Op Fortitude.

As our support expands, we have to look carefully again at the efficiency and effectiveness of what we’re currently providing under the banner of Veterans UK. Is accessing help too confusing? Are we doing too much in one area and not enough elsewhere? How can service provision be improved? These are key questions this review will answer.

That way, we can make good on our promise to make this country the best place in the world to be a veteran.

March 4, 2023
Leo Docherty – 2023 Speech at the UN Conference on Disarmament

The speech made by Leo Docherty, the Minister for Europe, in Geneva on 27 February 2023.

Every member state of this Conference has the responsibility to work towards a more peaceful and stable world, through disarmament. For the vast majority represented here, that is indeed our shared objective.

But all too often, we see some States doing the opposite.

It is over a year since Russia launched their illegal invasion of Ukraine.

It is an unprovoked, premeditated and barbaric attack against a sovereign democratic state.

And an egregious violation of international law and the UN Charter.

We continue to see mounting evidence of horrific acts committed by Russia’s forces against civilians.

The UK and our allies will continue to support the Ukrainian government in the face of this assault on their existence.

Russia’s announcement last week that it has suspended participation in the New START treaty further shows their willingness to undermine strategic stability.

We continue to urge Russia to immediately return to full compliance of the Treaty and engage constructively with the USA on this matter.

We will continue to explore every diplomatic avenue to uphold international law, and strengthen our collective disarmament architecture.

In addition to major nuclear armed states willing to flout international norms of behaviour, we collectively face a range of challenges.

We face continuing proliferation concerns about the activities of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Iran.

We are concerned with DPRK’s continued escalation of its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. We condemn these tests which are in clear breach of United Nations Security Council Resolutions.

We face Assad’s willingness to use chemical weapons.

And emerging threats posed by new and disruptive technologies.

To overcome these we must refresh our thinking, and redouble our commitment to build on the foundations of our common disarmament and non-proliferation institutions.

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty – or NPT – remains the cornerstone of international nuclear security. And the only pragmatic route to a world without nuclear weapons in our current security environment.

The UK remains firmly committed to the NPT, and to fulfilling our obligations under all three pillars of the Treaty.

We remain committed to the long-term goal of a world without nuclear weapons.

And firmly believe the best way to achieve this is through gradual multilateral disarmament, negotiated within the framework of the NPT, including in this Conference.

Collectively we have the ability to create a safer and more stable world, where countries with nuclear weapons feel able to relinquish them.

However, the deteriorating security environment means we must remain realistic about what can be achieved in the short term.

The UK is focused on preparing the ground for what can pragmatically be achieved over the next NPT review cycle and beyond.

We are working with other States on the verification and irreversibility challenges, which will need to be addressed as part of final disarmament.

We will continue to play a leading role on transparency, within the limits placed by our non-proliferation obligations and our overarching national security concerns.

We will continue to develop concrete initiatives on reducing the risk of the use of nuclear weapons.

And we will continue to press for the entry into force of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

And the beginning of negotiations, in this Conference, on a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty – the logical next step along the road to a world without nuclear weapons.

Mr President,

We only have to look to President Putin’s assault against Ukraine…

and Assad’s on his own people…

and the lives blighted by the illicit trade in small arms and lights weapons across the world…

to realise that the use of conventional and chemical weapons remains a present, real and urgent threat.

The diversion and misuse of conventional weapons – particularly small arms and light weapons – costs hundreds of thousands of lives every year…

destroys security and sustainable development…

and fuels conflict, crime and terrorism.

The effective control of conventional weapons and ammunition should therefore be a goal that unites us all.

The United Kingdom was proud to sign up to the Political Declaration on Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas in Dublin in November. I warmly commend the Government of Ireland for its leadership in this endeavour. As Putin’s missiles rained down on Ukrainian homes and civilian infrastructure, the Declaration is a powerful commitment to strengthening the protection of civilians in urban warfare under International Humanitarian Law.

The UK will continue to play a leading role in tackling the scourge of landmines, cluster munitions and other explosive remnants of war, including as a result of the conflict in Ukraine.

We must also do more work together to counter IEDs, and prevent non-State actors and violent extremists from obtaining the components to make them.

The United Kingdom condemns Syria’s use of chemical weapons in Douma and in multiple other attacks.

It is time for the disarmament community to move from severe condemnation to severe consequences, for those that use them.

The UK will continue to work for a world free from chemical and biological weapons, and we urge all states to play a constructive part in this process.

As the Biological Weapons Convention nears its 50th year in force, the UK will strive to make the most of the process we all agreed at last year’s Review Conference to bolster our implementation of this Convention. It represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to meet the evolving threats from biological weapons in the 21st century. We must seize it and endow the Convention with the scientific and technical advice it needs, and explore ways in which new technologies can help assure compliance with its obligations.

Mr President,

Just as the threats we face in the nuclear, biological, chemical and conventional domains have evolved, so it is in outer space.

We are pleased to see progress in the Open-Ended Working Group on reducing space threats through norms, rules and principles of responsible behaviours.

All of our societies and economies rely on a cooperative approach to the use of technologies in space.

So we encourage all states to engage constructively and work towards a consensus report, that can inform next steps in the UN General Assembly.

This Conference also has a vital role to play in negotiating agreements on preventing an arms race in outer space, whether legally binding or otherwise.

To conclude, Mr President.

The UK is firmly committed to playing a full role in advancing the international disarmament agenda.

And we are grateful for the cooperation of all partners who approach these thorny issues constructively, and with integrity.

Let me point out that many of those partners are not members of this Conference, and are being barred from taking up their rightful seats as observers by the Russian delegation. We deplore this obstructionism, and call for all UN Member States to be allowed to participate in the work of this Conference as has long been our practice.

The challenges facing our collective work are monumental.

We must take a constructive and open-minded approach to finding new solutions to old problems.

But we must also stand by the frameworks and agreements that we have so painstakingly built.

And hold all states accountable to agreed norms and standards, and the commitments they have made.

Thank you.

March 2, 2023
Rishi Sunak – 2023 Speech at Munich Security Conference

The speech made by Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, in Munich on 18 February 2023.

The United Kingdom will always be on the side of freedom, democracy and the rule of law.

And the security of our European continent will always be our overriding priority.

Now there’s no greater example of those commitments than our response to the war in Ukraine.

Just this year we became the first country in the world to provide tanks to Ukraine – and the first to train pilots and marines.

We gave £2.3 billion last year – and we will match or exceed that in 2023.

Now other allies can tell a similar story – and our collective efforts are making a difference.

But with every day that passes, Russian forces inflict yet more pain and suffering.

Now the only way to change that is for Ukraine to win.

So we need a military strategy for Ukraine to gain a decisive advantage on the battlefield to win the war, and a political strategy to win the peace.

To win the war, Ukraine needs more artillery, armoured vehicles and air defence.

So now is the moment to double down on our military support.

When Putin started this war, he gambled that our resolve would falter.

Even now, he is betting that we will lose our nerve.

But we proved him wrong then.

And we will prove him wrong now.

Together we’re delivering as much equipment in the next few months as in the whole of 2022.

And together we must help Ukraine to shield its cities from Russian bombs and Iranian drones.

And that’s why the UK will be the first country to provide Ukraine with longer-range weapons.

And it’s why we’re working with our allies to give Ukraine the most advanced air defence systems, and build the air force they need to defend their nation.

Now of course, the UK stands ready to help any country, provide planes that Ukraine can use today.

But we must also train Ukrainian pilots to use the most advanced jets, and that’s exactly what Britain is doing…

So that Ukraine has the capability to defend its security for the long term.

But to win the peace we also need to rebuild the international order on which our collective security depends.

First, that means upholding international law.

The whole world must hold Russia to account.

We must see justice through the ICC for their sickening war crimes committed, whether in Bucha, Irpin, Mariupol or beyond.

And Russia must also be held to account for the terrible destruction it has inflicted.

We are hosting the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London this June.

And we should consider – together – how to ensure that Russia pays towards that reconstruction.

Now second, the treaties and agreements of the post-Cold War era have failed Ukraine.

So we need a new framework for its long-term security.

From human rights to reckless nuclear threats, from Georgia to Moldova, Russia has committed violation after violation against countries outside the collective security of NATO.

And the international community’s response has not been strong enough.

As Jens Stoltenberg has said, “Ukraine will become a member of NATO.”

But until that happens, we need to do more to bolster Ukraine’s long-term security.

We must give them the advanced NATO-standard capabilities that they need for the future.

And we must demonstrate that we’ll remain by their side, willing and able to help them defend their country again and again.

Ukraine needs and deserves assurances of that support.

So ahead of the NATO summit in Vilnius we will bring together our friends and allies to begin building those long-term assurances.

And our aim should be to forge a new charter in Vilnius to help protect Ukraine from future Russian aggression.

Now let me conclude with one final thought.

What’s at stake in this war is even greater than the security and sovereignty of one nation.

It’s about the security and sovereignty of every nation.

Because Russia’s invasion, its abhorrent war crimes and irresponsible nuclear rhetoric are symptomatic of a broader threat to everything we believe in.

From the skies over North America to the suffering on the streets of Tehran, some would destabilise the order that has preserved peace and stability for 80 years.

They must not prevail. And we need not be daunted.

As President Zelenskyy said when he addressed the UK Parliament last week, we are marching towards the most important victory of our lifetime. It will be a victory over the very idea of war.

And we could have no greater purpose than to prove him right.

February 19, 2023
Alex Chalk – 2023 Speech at the Global Investment Summit in India

The speech made by Alex Chalk, the Minister for Defence Procurement, in Lucknow, India on 13 February 2023.

Thank you Honourable Chief Minister for that warm introduction. It is an enormous pleasure to be here in Lucknow today for the Global Investment Summit.

As some of you may know, for me personally this has felt less of a visit and more of homecoming.

Because it was here in Uttar Pradesh that I spent a formative period of my life as a young graduate, living and working as a teacher in this beautiful state and gaining experience that continues to influence me today. Yesterday I travelled to Bakshi-ka-talab for an emotional reunion with Sushma Singh and her family.

It was emotional because I formed a strong attachment to this remarkable country and its people. From the holy city of Varanasi, to the wonder of Agra. I knew then that India was destined for an extraordinary future. In the intervening two decades, India has indeed become great. But in truth, it is only just getting started.

As well as successfully holding the presidency of the G20, India’s growing economy is accelerating past others, and is already bigger than Britain’s. That trend will only continue. We don’t just acknowledge that – we admire it and we celebrate it.

Because I come here today as a representative of a new kind of British Government. The torch has truly passed to a new generation of British ministers, led by my friend and colleague, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak – who has already established an excellent relationship with Modi Jee.

Because this is a generation of ministers that has studied and come of age in one of the most diverse countries on Earth. A country of pluralism, of tolerance. A country where I can tell you that this minister’s children celebrate Diwali with all the enthusiasm that they show for Christmas.

And above all, like you, a meritocracy – a country where it doesn’t matter where you’re from, it’s where you’re going that counts. And UP is certainly going places.

And when it comes to our country, the United Kingdom is more open, more outward-looking, more globalist than ever before. Global Britain is not a slogan – it is a fundamental part of our modern DNA. And it’s absolutely at the heart of why I’m so delighted to be here.

And so when I come back to Lucknow, and I see the road signs bearing that famous name, my mind does not turn principally to the past, our shared history or my own past. It turns with wonder to the extraordinary present of this mighty metropolis, and it soars on the promise of what tomorrow will surely bring.

Because we meet here in one of the fastest growing economies in India, a state of over 200m people, a hub of research and development. A state that is restless for its future – just as Britain is.

We know your ambitions Chief Minister for this state, for growing the economy this decade, for developing the infrastructure, and for establishing a defence corridor – the engine of new India’s growth. That vision is hugely exciting, and I would like our comprehensive strategic partnership to be the engine of each other’s growth.

Indeed, we stand ready to be at your side, as partners, as we hurry towards that future. And to demonstrate that commitment I am joined today by more than 30 British businesses – firms that are already partnering with Indian counterparts and stand ready to deepen and intensify that relationship. We want to achieve great things together, and today they are signing seven MOUs, committing £165m of investment into UP and generating almost a thousand jobs.

And when it comes to ties to India business is not beginning from a standing start. Since the turn of the century no G20 country has invested more in India than Britain. For its part, India is Britain’s second-biggest jobs creator.

And in Defence we see with growing clarity where our relationship can go. On land, on sea, and in the air. And even in space and cyber.

At sea, the crew of HMS Tamar’visited the Andaman and Nicobar Islands last month and exercised with the Indian Navy. Our flagship, the great carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, sailed to the Indian Ocean in 2021 and took part in our most demanding bilateral exercise to date, Exercise Konkan Shakti, conducted by all three services from both countries.

In the air, you’ll be aware of our regular joint exercise, Indradhanush, with tactics, techniques and procedures being shared between our aviators.

And on the ground, where British participation in exercise Ajeya Warrior has strengthened our interoperability and shared skills in tackling terrorism, and boosting counter-insurgency capability.

And that’s all before you factor in the extensive collaboration at an industrial level.

Whether it’s our new Defence Industry Joint Working Group – launched last year. Whether it’s our Enhanced Cyber Security Partnership. Or whether it’s the regular bilateral consultations on space technology.

And I see huge opportunities for our industries to collaborate in electric propulsion technology to power the Indian Navy, and complex weapons systems.

And to support greater defence and security collaboration the UK has issued an Open General Export Licence to India, reducing bureaucracy and shortening delivery times for defence procurement. This is our first such licence in the Indo-Pacific.

And tomorrow I look forward to emphasising to Indian defence colleagues that the UK stands ready to commit to something truly special: the largest ever transfer of jet engine technology from Britain to any other nation in our history. Technology that will give India sovereign Make-in-India intellectual capability, that will ensure India joins an exclusive club and becomes just the sixth country in the world to acquire this cutting-edge capability – and will empower India to export future fighters on India’s terms around the world.

A strong, self-reliant, resilient India, with a sovereign defence industry to match.

That’s good for India. That’s good for the region. And it’s vital for the world.

That’s because wherever you are in the world, there is a growing, inescapable feeling that our planet is become more dangerous.

Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine has shown us that the world is more connected and interdependent than ever. Rising costs, food shortages and instability are triggered across the world.

And I know I don’t need to remind this audience that China’s increasing belligerence poses systematic challenges to the international rules-based order. It threatens to undermine those values that our free nations hold to be inviolable – democracy, good governance, human rights, the rule of law. And the right of any nation to preserve its territorial integrity.

So accelerating our partnership is not a ‘nice to have’. It is a geopolitical necessity. And we need to get on with it.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recognises that, and fired the starting gun on the latest sprint last week when he joined a meeting between India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and his British counterpart Tim Barrow.

Together they framed plans to strengthen cooperation on trade, technology and defence. And I know Alan [Gemmell, HM Trade Commissioner for South Asia] is going to be speaking in a moment about the various agreements we’re set to commit to writing shortly.

We also have our Foreign Secretary, Chancellor and First Sea Lord all coming here in the coming week to further strengthen our relationship.

And I’m here in UP, because we see special opportunity in this extraordinary state of UP, and the vision you have set out for development and defence investment.

Twenty years ago, my pupils taught me:

Pardesi pardesi jaana nahi

Foreigner, don’t leave

Pardesi pardesi jaana nahi

Foreigner, don’t leave

Mujhe chhod ke, mujhe chhod ke

Leaving me behind

Pardesi pardesi jaana nahi

Foreigner, don’t leave

Mujhe chhod ke, mujhe chhod ke

Leaving me behind

Pardesi mere yaara vaada nibhana

My foreigner friend, fulfill your promise

Mujhe yaad rakhna kahin bhool na jaana

Remember me and don’t forget me

Today, the Hindi slogan that comes to mind is:

UK-UP: sAbka sat, sAbka vikAAAs.

February 13, 2023