Defence Industrial Strategy
Commons Chamber debate | Commons
Defence Industrial Strategy - Hansard - UK Parliament
UK Parliament
Hansard
Commons28 April 2026
Commons Chamber
Oral Answers to Questions
Treasury
Defence Industrial Strategy
Defence Industrial Strategy
Volume 784debated on Tuesday 28 April 2026
Apr
28
2026
Download text
Back to top
Previous
debate
Next
debate
John Milne
(Horsham) (LD)
Share
this specific contribution
Share a link to this specific contribution:
Share contribution 1 on
Share contribution 1 on
Share contribution 1 via
Copy link to contribution 1 to clipboard
Copy link
4.
What discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on the effectiveness of the defence industrial strategy.
(
908877
)
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury
(James Murray)
Share
this specific contribution
Share a link to this specific contribution:
Share contribution 2 on
Share contribution 2 on
Share contribution 2 via
Copy link to contribution 2 to clipboard
Copy link
The Chancellor and the Defence Secretary meet regularly to discuss defence, including the defence industrial strategy. As part of those discussions, they recently met leaders from the UK financial sector to discuss how private investment can also be leveraged to accelerate defence readiness, building on the commitments made in the defence industrial strategy.
John Milne
Share
this specific contribution
Share a link to this specific contribution:
Share contribution 4 on
Share contribution 4 on
Share contribution 4 via
Copy link to contribution 4 to clipboard
Copy link
In my constituency of Horsham, Chess Dynamics, which is part of Cohort, is a world-leading developer of counter-drone and air defence technology—exactly the capabilities that we need. Yet Chess, like much of the defence industry, has been kept on hold since last year, awaiting clarity on the defence investment plan. Without it, it cannot commission new air defence systems, leaving the next generation of Royal Navy frigates potentially exposed. It needs to know now. Will the Minister agree to meet me and Chess Dynamics to provide certainty on the investment that everyone says we need, but which simply is not happening yet?
James Murray
Share
this specific contribution
Share a link to this specific contribution:
Share contribution 5 on
Share contribution 5 on
Share contribution 5 via
Copy link to contribution 5 to clipboard
Copy link
Investment in defence under this Government is under way—just look at the contracts. Over a thousand have been signed since the general election: I point the hon. Gentleman, and anyone else in the Chamber, to the billion-pound contract for medium helicopters in Yeovil, the half-a-billion pounds invested in state-of-the-art radar systems and the £100 million boost to support submarine-hunting aircraft. This Government are raising investment in defence to the highest sustained level since the cold war and it is at the core of ensuring that we are protecting our nation’s security.
Mr Speaker
Share
this specific contribution
Share a link to this specific contribution:
Share contribution 6 on
Share contribution 6 on
Share contribution 6 via
Copy link to contribution 6 to clipboard
Copy link
I call the Chair of the Treasury Committee.
Dame Meg Hillier
(Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op)
Share
this specific contribution
Share a link to this specific contribution:
Share contribution 7 on
Share contribution 7 on
Share contribution 7 via
Copy link to contribution 7 to clipboard
Copy link
What consideration has my right hon. Friend given to joining the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank to make sure that we are really pushing the investment that we need to see in defence in the current world situation?
James Murray
Share
this specific contribution
Share a link to this specific contribution:
Share contribution 8 on
Share contribution 8 on
Share contribution 8 via
Copy link to contribution 8 to clipboard
Copy link
The UK has already signed up, with Finland and the Netherlands, to the multilateral defence budget, with this Chancellor taking a lead. I know the importance to this Government of security, which is not just something that we can achieve on our own but by working with allies to ensure that we are safer in future. I will add that we on the Government Benches are committed to remaining a core part of NATO, unlike some of the Opposition parties.
Mr Speaker
Share
this specific contribution
Share a link to this specific contribution:
Share contribution 9 on
Share contribution 9 on
Share contribution 9 via
Copy link to contribution 9 to clipboard
Copy link
I call the shadow Minister.
James Wild
(North West Norfolk) (Con)
Share
this specific contribution
Share a link to this specific contribution:
Share contribution 10 on
Share contribution 10 on
Share contribution 10 via
Copy link to contribution 10 to clipboard
Copy link
The Chancellor said,
“National security always comes first”,
but she delayed the helicopter contract for our industrial base and we know that she is blocking the defence investment plan. Labour’s former Defence Secretary and secretary general of NATO, Lord Robertson, said,
“We cannot defend Britain with an ever-expanding welfare budget.”
He is right, so why is the Chancellor failing to grip the benefits bill and invest in our defence?
James Murray
Share
this specific contribution
Share a link to this specific contribution:
Share contribution 11 on
Share contribution 11 on
Share contribution 11 via
Copy link to contribution 11 to clipboard
Copy link
Those on the Opposition Front Bench have some cheek. The hon. Gentleman is sat next to the hon. Member for Central Devon (Sir Mel Stride), who oversaw the biggest increase in welfare spending on record, with a £33 billion increase in welfare spending in the last year of the Conservative Government. This Government are serious about getting people back into
work, while increasing defence investment at the same time to 2.6% of GDP by next April—something the previous Government never managed.