Speeches by Healey.

“The SACEUR has a plan for exactly what you are describing. The UK has roles to play within that plan. If that sort of action was undertaken by Russia, that is the response that it should expect, and the UK would play a part in that.”

“In Estonia, we would already have around 1,000 troops there—an integrated deterrence and defence planning and exercising already in place with the Estonian force—and we would respond not just as the UK but as part of a 32-strong NATO alliance. It is that strength that has helped deter Russia from that type of action in…”

“I think it is fair to say that the immediate action as a result of this was about reinforcing the security at Brize and a selected number of other sites, and upping the state of readiness and vigilance and some of the measures on all sites. But in terms of what I think you are driving at here—assessing and then settlin…”

“As we have been for decades, and as we were under the previous Government, the UK and the US are and absolutely remain the very closest of defence, intelligence and security allies. We continue to do things together as two nations that no other nations do. That relationship is very strong at a military level, and it is…”

“Including the fact that we have a ceasefire and a degraded, if not destroyed, Iranian nuclear weapons programme. The way of securing that, and the argument that President Trump is leading, which we and other allies are supporting, is to say to Iran, “Look, we need to negotiate for the future now—the future of your coun…”

“I welcome the situation we are in now, including—”

“That sort of legal advice is not public or disclosed. We are totally at one with the US, and with a number of other allies, that Iran can never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon. The US struck those nuclear targets, and we now have a ceasefire in place. We welcome that. The challenge now—this was part of the discu…”

“Jam and Marmite today.”

“It is not jam tomorrow; the SDR is for a 10-year-and-beyond period. The question is, what can we do now? How do we sequence the period? We have been able to produce the strategic review, just a month ago, and we have already been able to say, “Right, we’ll set up”—and we have started to do it—“a Cyber and Electromagnet…”

“The SDR sets out a vision—a transformation, as you say—for the next 10 years and beyond. You can crystallise it, essentially, as planning, equipping, training and deploying as an integrated force, rather than as separate services, and doing so in a way that brings the power of new technology—AI, autonomy, drones—alongs…”

“On the specifics, General Nesmith might want to add something.”

“First, the capability targets are exactly what they are: targets. They are designed to push and stretch. They do that with all our nations. They are doing it with us. They are an important part of our drive to transform and modernise what we can do. General Nesmith might want to deal with this particular question, but …”

“We have not met all the targets that we set. The point about the targets is that they are part of defining our contribution to the NATO collective defence and deterrence and they stretch every nation to do more. That is exactly what we will do.”

“You will know the capability target horizon stretches almost two decades. The commitments that we and the other NATO nations signed up to last Wednesday at the NATO summit endorsed a new set of capability targets. That will frame a major part of the priorities and the focus for our decisions now in the defence investme…”

“I think the requisite authority lies in the construct of the post and the range of responsibilities within the NAD group that it has. Within that is a post that will run DE&S. It is not somebody that will also do that job at the same time. Look, in the end, like with almost anything, it is also about getting the right …”

“Look, I will take that, if I may, as a point of design as we set the organisation up and as we appoint the head, but simply to say, and to reflect the conversation earlier with Ms Scrogham, that this is bringing together what are at the moment fragmented programmes, fragmented responsibility for defence innovation. It …”

“If you were applying for the job, let us just imagine because you have got an interest in it, and we were having a fireside chat about that, I would say, “Look, you have got an opportunity here. You sit within the NAD group, you are at the cutting edge of what our Armed Forces need, you are at the cutting edge of where…”

“We are standing up the organisation now. It will be fully in place in about a year’s time. We will look to recruit ahead of that. We will settle those questions as we go into that field. What we need is a really first-rate candidate.”

“It will report to the NAD.”

“No, the principal accountability—in terms of ministerial portfolio and responsibility, the Minister who will work most closely, and who day to day will do much of the work and the holding to account, the pressure on delivery, will clearly be the Minister for Defence Procurement and Industry. Fundamentally, the four lev…”