Speeches by Foord.

“That is a departure from what we saw when we last had this level of tension between Russia and the west, back in the 1990s. Then, the UK had its own independent air-launched nuclear deterrent. Recently in the Lords, Admiral Lord West asked the Defence Minister, Lord Coaker, whether the UK ought to reassess its nuclear …”

“The F-35 is not being used in Ukraine; the F-22 is being used in Ukraine.”

“In a 2016 paper published by RAND, it was suggested that the legal agreement that set up the global spares pool allows participant nations to opt out and establish separate stocks of assets not subject to shared management. Is this something that the British Government have explored with allies?”

“Are you at all concerned that what we have here is the defence procurement tail wagging the foreign policy dog?”

“There are members of this Committee who have served in uniform, so we do take the point that you do not want to endanger British lives. Staying with procurement, two weeks ago the Government announced that they were going to procure the F-35A and would be seeking to use the F-35A in a nuclear-certified role. How much i…”

“Certainly. I have only one question, Chair, but first I must correct the record: it is the F-16 that is being used in Ukraine, not the F-22. I would like to ask about contingency planning for the US withdrawing what remains of its supplies to Ukraine. Can you tell us about discussions that you have had with the UK’s al…”

“It is up to €600 billion. That is going to make a difference to UK-US relations, isn’t it?”

“Thank you, Tan, and thank you, Minister. Staying with the example you gave of the procurement of the F-35A, what do you make of the charge that this decision to procure nuclear-certified aircraft is on the one hand restoring sub-strategic nuclear capability to the UK, but on the other hand ironically making the UK more…”

“Staying with arms export licensing for the moment, Foreign Secretary, I take your point about the law, but many of our constituents suspect that the British Government are not doing all that they can to influence the Israeli Government in relation to the war in Gaza, and specifically on the subject of the sale of F-35 …”

“One last question: it provides additional options and additional capability, but I am suggesting that this could be an opportunity to review the UK’s nuclear posture. I am thinking about the posture of deliberate ambiguity that we have had for many years. We last considered it when NATO had conventional inferiority to …”

“This is not just about capability; it is also about intent, and about signalling the conditions under which the deterrent could be used. We have had this long-standing approach, a posture of deliberate ambiguity, but many Russia experts are telling us that this time we need to make clear how we are communicating. We do…”

“Minister, since you last appeared in front of the Committee, the UK has agreed a defence and security memorandum of understanding with the European Union, and the UK is seeking access to the SAFE programme. How can the UK shape that programme, given that we are outside the European Union?”

“And some that aren’t, perhaps.”

“We suppose that the United States will not be part of the SAFE programme. Are there implications there for the UK?”

“While the hon. Lady is talking about the south-west of England, I would hate for her to forget Axminster, which still has a flourishing carpet maker, but it does not have quite the same level of employment that it did in its heyday. Does she agree that Government can help by investing in superfast broadband, given that…”

“It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Western. In eastern and mid Devon, we have many ordinary medium-sized and small businesses, but they are facing extraordinary barriers, including being held back by a lack of reliable broadband in rural areas. I appreciate that that is not in the Minister’s brief, but…”

“People in East Devon have been told that they must now travel to Exeter for audiology services that they previously received at their local community hospital. What steps are the Government taking to encourage new providers to restore accessible audiology services?”

“I would like to ask about the targeting of hospitals by the IDF. Rohan, I wonder whether I can direct this question to you. It is about international humanitarian law and the protected status of hospitals. You will know that, under international humanitarian law, a hospital loses its protection if so-called “acts harmf…”

“Is it possible that those healthcare workers are being indirectly targeted rather than directly targeted? Is it possible that they are—I hate this euphemism—collateral damage in an attack on sick or wounded combatants who are no longer taking part in the hostilities?”

“I support the Foreign Secretary in his call for de-escalation. In April last year, the RAF participated in the shooting down of drones that Iran fired at Israel. Will the Foreign Secretary comment on why the UK acted to defend Israel from drone attack at that time, but did not do so at the weekend?”