The Prime Minister began
Cabinet by thanking the Health and Care Secretary for his work on
delivering a long-term workforce plan for the NHS in its
75th
year.
He said the plan, which
includes a £2.4 billion boost to funding to expand the number of
training places and significant reform to the way the NHS works,
was welcomed by the sector and fulfilled a longstanding
commitment made by the government.
The Prime Minister updated
Cabinet on his meeting with Crown Prince Salman Bin Hamad Al
Khalifa, Prime Minister of Bahrain, at Downing Street
yesterday.
He said the Gulf is central to
the UK’s economic and national security as it’s the source of 40%
of our Liquified Natural Gas imports and tens of billions of
pounds of investment into UK industry.
He said the government would
continue to seize opportunities available in this region to
further the UK’s interests, protect against states like China who
seek to undermine our economic security and promote our
values.
Looking ahead to next week’s
NATO Summit in Lithuania, the Prime Minister said the meeting
will be a key opportunity to strengthen the NATO alliance and
demonstrate our solidarity with Ukraine. This includes ensuring
all allies fulfil their commitment to spend 2% of GDP on defence
and admitting Sweden to NATO.
The Foreign and Defence
Secretaries updated on the support the UK has been providing to
Ukraine, both military and economic.
They underlined the importance
of next week’s summit which will hammer home the extent of
Putin’s miscalculation by sending a strong message of unity on
Ukraine – whose rightful place is in NATO.
The Chief of the Defence Staff
updated Cabinet on the UK’s work within NATO. He emphasised that
the UK continues to play an outsized role, contributing our
Continuous At Sea Deterrent, 25% of NATO maritime capability and
10% for Land and Air and that taken together, NATO continues to
help keep the people of the UK safe and act as an effective
deterrent against Russian aggression.
The Foreign Secretary updated
Cabinet on the year-long extension of Jens Stoltenberg’s term as
NATO Secretary General.
The Prime Minister said the
Defence Secretary had been an outstanding candidate for the role,
widely respected among world leaders and the only person at
non-leader level to be considered.
He concluded Cabinet by saying
the UK would use its position in NATO to push for ambitious
outcomes at the Summit, so it has the capabilities to defend the
Euro Atlantic both now and into the future.
