(Warwick and Leamington)
(Lab)
7. What steps he is taking to support the UK defence industry.
[900007]
Mr
17. What steps he is taking to support the UK defence industry.
[900017]
The Secretary of State for Defence (Mr )
We are committed to supporting the UK defence manufacturing
industry. On 14 March, the Government provided an update to
Parliament on our ambitious defence prosperity programme, which
includes work to sustain an internationally competitive and
productive UK defence sector. In 2017-18, the MOD spent £18.9
billion with UK industry and commerce, directly supporting
115,000 jobs.
I thank the Minister for his response, but last week, the former
head of MI6, Sir John Sawers, said that the deal for Cobham,
which is being taken over by Advent, the private equity company,
should be blocked. The Business Secretary said that there would
be guarantees, but we know that in the case of GKN and Melrose,
those guarantees were worthless. If the US President can say that
the US automotive industry is a concern that should be protected
for national security, what sort of protections do we have in
place for our industry?
Mr Wallace
The hon. Gentleman makes a really important point about
protecting our sovereign capability and I take that incredibly
seriously, as someone who worked previously in QinetiQ, in the UK
aerospace sector. The issue with Cobham is ongoing. It is
currently before the relevant Department in Whitehall. We have
made our internal submissions on that and I therefore cannot
comment on that particular issue. It is important that we
maintain and keep our sovereignty, where that is viewed as
necessary for our future, but we should also not forget that the
reason we are the second biggest aerospace exporter in the world
is that we take an international consortium attitude towards it.
Mr Cunningham
Can the Secretary of State tell us the future value of contracts
to British companies such as GKN and Rolls-Royce and the future
cost of those contracts?
Mr Wallace
Given the recent increase in our settlement of £2.2 billion, of
which a large proportion will go on investing in the capital part
of our budget, the future for UK aerospace should be bright and
looks bright. The Type 31 frigate, for example, will be made in
Rosyth and will be delivered by UK yards.
Mr (Rayleigh and Wickford)
(Con)
Although the bulk of its work in the United Kingdom is civilian,
Airbus also does some military work—for instance, on the A400M
transport aircraft. More importantly, leaving aside the problems
with that aircraft, which are dreadful and multifarious, the
current chief executive, Guillaume Faury, and his predecessor
both threatened to withdraw up to 14,000 jobs in the United
Kingdom if we left without a deal and in a disorderly manner. Now
that we have a deal and are not planning to leave in a disorderly
manner, does the Secretary of State agree that the chief
executive of Airbus should withdraw that threat and should start
talking about investment into the United Kingdom rather than
disinvestment?
Mr Wallace
My right hon. Friend raises an interesting point. My only advice
to chief executives of aerospace companies is to invest where the
skills are and where the customers are, and that is in the United
Kingdom.
Mr (Scarborough and Whitby)
(Con)
Although the order for the CVRT replacement, the Ajax tank, was
placed with General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin and
Rheinmetall—American and European companies—the hulls are being
kitted out in Merthyr Tydfil and the turrets are being built in
Bedford. How important is it that, if we place orders for the
best equipment available in the free world, we should have as
much UK content as possible?
Mr Wallace
Where possible, we should do all we can to ensure a huge
proportion of UK content in all the contracts we deliver so that
our forces get the kit they need.
(Caerphilly) (Lab)
I welcome the new Ministers to their posts. A little more than
three months ago, a prominent Conservative Member of this House
said:
“We must continue to hammer home the importance of sovereign
capability”—[Official Report, 16 July 2019; Vol. 663, c. 277WH.].
That was, of course, the new defence procurement Minister,
speaking before she was promoted. Thinking about the fleet solid
support ships, for example, can I ask the Secretary of State why
his Ministers do not practise what they preach?
Mr Wallace
The hon. Gentleman is tempting me to comment on an ongoing
competition. As he knows, if we were to prejudice that
competition, both the UK taxpayer and potentially UK industry
would be at risk of being sued by the other consortium. The
Under-Secretary of State for Defence, my hon. Friend the Member
for Berwick-upon-Tweed (), whom I welcome to my
team, was not the Minister at the time of that competition, so to
hold her to account in that way is unfair.
