Speeches by Healey.

“That will be within the NAD group.”

“You would have to work harder, Mr Jopp, to convince me that in principle that is a good move, for this reason. In my view, there is a merit and a credibility in having a regime that is the responsibility of a different part of government. If you want it to be an exports licensing regime that is properly conducted, I th…”

“You absolutely have my undertaking on that—although I do not at this point want to tell them that, in case it puts them off; but I am sure they will welcome it.”

“To keep us all up to the mark, including me, I am also appointing to a new post of strategic adviser and head of review and challenge—in other words, to take the lessons that I think worked well during the strategic review process of bringing in external experts, but with a specific review and challenge process. Malcol…”

“We have got the post established. We are well down the track with recruitment. I hope they would be appointed and confirmed publicly soon.”

“It will a be hard-wired major criterion in any investment decisions that we take for any of the capabilities or technologies that we purchase on behalf of the British taxpayer. In other words, and this Committee has probably heard me say it before, we will look to direct more of the British taxpayer’s investment in def…”

“Well, we are one year along. We have made some major structural, really serious organisational changes, but we have now laid the foundations, and getting the wiring—the horizontal links—between the four major areas is important. To be honest, we are all politicians and political leaders; we strive to be able to say thi…”

“I think the main challenge at the outset is to have a clear vision and a sense of what needs to be changed. I tried to develop that in opposition. We made commitments in the manifesto, which we now have in place. In the end, the main challenge of defence reform is that it is never complete. It requires strong leadershi…”

“Conceptually and in theory, I guess we could have. That was not something that the SDR suggested was a good thing to do, and it is not something that would necessarily be consistent with my ambition or the manifesto commitment that we made at the heart of the strategic defence review, which is that European nations nee…”

“First, we have our sovereign capability: it is CASD. It has the total determination of this Government to maintain, develop and upgrade it for the future. Secondly, on the decision we have taken with the dual-capable aircraft and the contribution that the UK can now make, this is an existing NATO nuclear mission. We do…”

“Thank you for your support, Mr Martin. I note and welcome it. To refer you again to the strategic defence review, what that recommends and points to, and what we have started to work on already is the development of our carrier capabilities. That is not just about the F-35s on board. It is to develop Europe’s first hyb…”

“I have made clear what the recommendation is and I have made clear the period and process within which any decisions like that will be taken. They will not just be isolated decisions; they will be in the context of the budget profile that we have available. For the first time, as I said to the Committee, there will be …”

“I appreciate that; I am trying to find a way of answering you. The components and composition of our future combat air requirements, purchases and sequencing, which will cover F-35s, Typhoons and any other developments, will be made in the context of the defence investment planning process over the next few months. I c…”

“The SDR recommendations were about upgrading our Typhoon fleet.”

“Just to be really clear, the fresh decisions as a new Government within the context of the strategic defence review, reflecting this, as you said, significant change in the UK’s nuclear posture with the 35As will be decisions that I take in the context of the new few months and the defence investment plan, which we wil…”

“The plan for any future Typhoon purchases will be based on decisions that are taken in the context of that defence-investment planning process over the next few months. You will note on Typhoon that the strategic defence review confirmed its importance, confirmed its role and confirmed the strong recommendation, which …”

“No, the—”

“But Mr Twigg, you know the F-35 programme better than anyone. This is a programme that is going to stretch into the 2030s, the 2040s and the 2050s.”

“No.”

“No, not 138 by the end of the decade. I said our plan for the next tranche totals 27. Within that, I am now planning, as a result of the decision, to swap 12 of that next purchase of 35Bs for 35As. I expect those to start being delivered by the end of the decade, just to be really clear.”