Written questions by Jopp.

What steps he is taking to increase the provision of equipment to Ukraine.

We can be very proud as a nation that this year, the UK will give more military support to Ukraine than ever, with a £4.5 billion boost, including £600 million into accelerating drone delivery. As part of the £1.6 billion announced earlier this year, we recently announced delivery of an extra 140 lightweight-multirole missiles ahead of schedule and a UK-Ukrainian project to mass produce thousands of advanced air defence interceptor drones to help take down shahids and cruise missile attacking civilians Ukraine. The UK is co-leading the Ukraine Defence Contact Group with Germany and Coalition of the Willing with France, encouraging allies to provide more to Ukraine.

With reference to the press release entitled UK to purchase F-35As and join NATO nuclear mission as Government steps up national security and delivers defence dividend, published on 24 June 2025, whether his Department plans to buy fewer F-35B aircraft.

The Ministry of Defence will initially purchase 12 F-35A aircraft from within previously agreed F-35B purchase schedules. Future F-35 purchases will be reviewed as part of the Defence Investment Plan, which will conclude in the autumn.

Whether the £50 million allocated to the new VALOUR comes from his Department's existing budget.

VALOUR is a new commitment to establish the first-ever UK-wide approach to veteran support. A new VALOUR HQ within the Ministry of Defence, a network of field officers, regional VALOUR-recognised support centres, and development funding to support local delivery will be established, overseen by the Office for Veterans’ Affairs. VALOUR will foster the enterprising spirit of veteran charities, better connect local and national services and ensure veterans’ support is data driven. With new funding for veterans from the Ministry of Defence budget, the detailed structures and processes that will underpin VALOUR will be designed in collaboration with relevant partners and further details will be announced in due course.

How many members of overseas armed forces his Department is in a direct employment relationship with as of 15 October 2024.

I have interpreted your question to be asking for the number of foreign personnel on exchange or embedded with the UK Armed Forces. The table below shows the number of foreign exchange personnel that were on strength with an active assignment, as at 15 Oct 2024, by assigned location country in either overseas or the United Kingdom. Location CountryForeign Exchange Personnel CountOverseas146United Kingdom582Grand Total728

If he will have discussions with the Prime Minister on the potential merits of making the Minister with responsibility for veterans a member of the Cabinet.

It is my personal responsibility to represent veterans at Cabinet and I am proud to do it.With the Office for Veterans Affairs now part of the MOD and the Minister for Veterans and People working across Government and with veteran groups, we are determined to bring forward a range of action to better serve our veteran community, including ensuring HM Armed Forces Veteran Cards to be used as voter identification, waiving visa fees for non-UK veterans who have served for four or more years and their dependents, and putting the Armed Forces Covenant fully into law.