(LD):...The most significant change in the UK’s
international environment since the publication of the 2015
strategic defence and security review has been the defection of the
United States from its position as promoter and protector of the
rules-based international order, to which the Motion refers. We do
not yet know what the Trump Administration’s foreign policy will
become or exactly their approach to NATO and their European
partners, but we have seen enough to know that Trump will put
America first, as he promised throughout his campaign, and pay less
attention to international order and North Atlantic security, and
that Britain cannot expect any greater favours than such other
close US partners as Canada, Mexico, Germany or
Japan...
of Nympsfield
(CB):...As others in this debate have mentioned, we
possess a range of top-flight Armed Forces, albeit in my judgment
not enough of them, including some stunning specialities—special
forces, submarines and many more—plus a substantial nuclear
deterrent. We have a cluster of top-of-the-range security and
intelligence services, as well as a position as one of only three
nations with genuine global intelligence reach, thanks to our
so-called “Two Eyes” relationship with the United States and our
“Five Eyes” relationship when you add Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The other
two powers with global reach are, of course, Russia and the
United States, with China coming up fast...
(Con):...I
have two particular questions to ask the Minister. First, will he
tell us when the Estonian deployment of UK troops will be
complete? Will he tell us when it is expected that the other
deployments—I am thinking of the Canada-led one in Latvia, the German-led
one in Lithuania, and the United States one in Poland—will be
complete? These deployments, although small in size, will provide
an essential tripwire, which should warn Moscow that to engage
with them would have immediate Article 5 implications...
To read the whole debate, CLICK
HERE
