global by the military ability. the global defence force will be across [and sea and air, space and cyber, to get there first in response to unpredictable events around the world. to unpredictable events around the world. today because my paper also recognises that it is in the interconnected world that the uk is unlikely to act we will be allied by design a national back section. our support for nato will remain ironclads, but we will continue to prioritise our core relationships. we will invest in deepening relationships with our new partners. that is why we are going to expand our global defence network. none of this is headline grabbing stuff but it is the fine details that makes the difference to our national security. to conclude, i would like to add that the paper is the result of being seven years of the department. forthe of being seven years of the department. for the continuity in

office is improving, i am incredibly grateful to the long serving minister of the armed forces whose experience has provided the basis for this paper. we are grateful to the hundreds of individuals who contributed to its drafting. not to mention the many members of this house, most of what we have learned from you is encapsulated in this document. this is likely to be one of my last appearances at this dispatch box. it has been the greatest privileges to serve the secretary of state for the last four years. i would like to thank my team and members of the house for their support. we all have a common interest in defending this fine country. defence is the most important and more important than ever. the next ten years will be even more unstable. the men and women of armed forces are second to none and britain's place in the

world is anchored in their professionalism and sacrifice. i believe you will increasingly call upon them in the years ahead and we be sure that they are ready to answer that call. i commend this statement to the house.- statement to the house. shadow secretary of _ statement to the house. shadow secretary of state _ statement to the house. shadow secretary of state for _ statement to the house. shadow secretary of state for defence. . statement to the house. shadow secretary of state for defence. i | secretary of state for defence. would secretary of state for defence. i would thank the minister for our advance copy of this. i want to stop paying tribute to his time in this house. he is a political survivor. i remember his firstjob in 2020... sorry, 2010, it was pps to ken clarke. forthe sorry, 2010, it was pps to ken clarke. for the last four years he has been a dedicated defence secretary and i want to recognise his work with ukraine and the armed

forces. his decisions on sending military support to ukraine, and getting other nations to do more, on day classifying intelligence have all been beneficial for ukraine and for britain. today the defence secretary is presenting his plan for the future of the british armed forces at a time when we have the return of major war to the continent of europe as well as growing threats elsewhere in the world. as his own future is not short, how long is the she” future is not short, how long is the shelf life of this plan? industry and leaders can't be sure his successor will agree with his decisions, will accept his cuts, will act on his approach and they can't be sure how the strategic defence review plant built by his party and mine after the next election will reboot defence planning. it didn't have to be this

way. labourwanted planning. it didn't have to be this way. labour wanted this to be the nation's defence plan not the plan of current conservative defence ministers. we offered to work with the government on a plan to make britain secure at home and strong abroad. this is not such a plan. this is not a good enough response to war in europe. to celebrate —— accelerate support for ukraine, to fulfil in full nato obligations, to halt the hollowing out of our armed forces, to renew the moral contract with those who serve in the families who support them. why has this plan been so delayed? it is 510 days since vladimir putin shattered european security. since then 26 other nato nations have rebooted defence plans and budgets. in the time it has taken the defence secretary to produce this long trail

to a new defence strategy finland is carried out its own review, overturned decades of nonalignment, increased defence spending by 36%, apply to join nato, increased defence spending by 36%, apply tojoin nato, saw its application approved by 30 parliaments, before last week's nato summit in vilnius. that successful nato summit has made the alliance stronger and support for ukraine greater. we fully back nato's the original plans and the g7 long—term security commitments to ukraine. if uk military aid is accelerated in the coming days and weeks, this will also have labour�*s phyllis support. there is a welcome back to basics in this plan, a focus on stockpiles, and training, and service conditions and training, and service conditions and combat readiness. but it is clear that this plan is driven by

costs not by threats, it is driven by the real cut in day—to—day spending that the defence secretary agreed in november 2020 and the failure to secure the 8 billion extra he said was needed in the spring budgetjust to cover inflation. where is the halt to further cuts in the army? while nato plan an eightfold increase in its high readiness forces. where is the commitment to fulfil in full are nato obligations. where is the action plan first promised by the defence secretary in august last year? where is the programme to reverse record low levels of satisfaction and service life? where is the full—scale reform of a broken defence securement system that the defence select committee called for on the very day the defence secretary announced he is stepping down? it is hard to see what has

changed in what he has announced today. the £6.6 billion for defence r and d was promised and integrated review in 2021. the global response force and force level cuts were announced in his defence command paper 2021 and a strategic reserve was recommended by long langford in 2021. so as he steps down, as the conservative's longest serving defence secretary, will he accept that many of the biggest challenges are being left to the next defence secretary and to the next government? as we may not see him again at this dispatch box, can ayhan behalf of all sides of the house wish him well in his post—parliamentary career. can house wish him well in his post-parliamentary career. can i

thank the right _ post-parliamentary career. can i thank the right honourable - post—parliamentary career. can i thank the right honourable gentleman for his kind comments. unfortunately for his kind comments. unfortunately for him i will be doing a statement. i understand what he is saying and this is the refresh of the defence command paper, it was not a complete read on —— redrawing. so many times these things have not had the rail and then to them and we get to the end of the period, and it gets there with black holes, overspend time and time again. this is a report to make us match fit, to make sure that whether we get 3%, 2.5%, 2% of gdp, these are the reforms required to in my view and hopefully the view of my successor, to face the threats we

face in the growing decades ahead and hopefully to reflect the lessons we have seen in ukraine. the right honourable member mentions finland. he will note that in the finland and swedish parliament they have on schedule our review. what they do as they asked their committee in parliament today to review that they handed to the ministry of defence to implement it. it wasn't triggered by anything specific and it wasn't a benchmark that they did it before i did this refresh. it has been predicted and profiled. where before sweden and finland joint debt so i was the architect of the security pact between the uk and finland and sweden from last january because i recognise they are our friends and allies and when they want to nato it was inconceivable that we in britain would never come to their aid ever more aggressive vladimir putin attacked them. that was the beginning of the process of

developing that strong process with them. the right honourable gentleman talks about defence procurement i want to thank him for many of the things in it we are now doing. i want to say obviously, give credit to him for his report, but some of them have also been my observation around sros, around 75%, 50%, observations around a spiral development cost, observations about gold—plating and over spec and that is too often given prices through the roof and for the colleagues opposite who are heckling who have been ministers in this department they will know that of all the departments to serving this is not a departments to serving this is not a department that moves at the greatest speed of reform. it takes time and you only have to look at the record of every single one of the record of every single one of the ministers in this house for ministers to know how hard it is. it

doesn't undermine their contribution, it doesn't make them less, but as a department of 220,000 people, a department that seeks every authority through the ministerial chair, it is not the most department that is quicker to change. no doubt the right honourable gentleman if he succeeds in his ambition to be a secretary of state for defence, if he succeeds he will learn that all too well. what i promised him as i will not come to this house and pretend the problem is they are dealing with were made the week before. they were made 15 years before. that is the actual truth of many of the policies are procurement challenges that we deal with in this department. i believe this paper will last the test of time because it is about facing the threats, and that is my answer to the right honourable gentleman. for the right honourable gentleman. for the record, we are about to lose one of the best defence secretaries we have ever had. he will be sorely

missed in this house and in the departments. he knows we have indeed discussed what is wrong with defence procurement on many occasions and he knows that the public accounts committee and the defence committee have published a number of reports saying it is broken. the most recent of which entitled it is broke and it is time to fix it only came out on sunday. 0n is time to fix it only came out on sunday. on tuesday we kept the tcp refresh whose acquisition strategy effectively affect some of the 22 recommendations in a report within 48 hours, which i submit is some kind of world record for a select committee. but the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so can i am all seriousness and character defence secretary when he does his handover, accompanied by his excellent team ofjunior ministers, to please impress upon a successor with really do need to bring about

this reform, notjust for industry, notjust this reform, notjust for industry, not just for this reform, notjust for industry, notjust for our armed forces, but for the whole security and defence of the realm. with that, we wish him well. , , ., of the realm. with that, we wish him well, , ., . ~' , well. just to thank my right honourable _ well. just to thank my right honourable friend - well. just to thank my right honourable friend for - well. just to thank my right honourable friend for his i well. just to thank my right - honourable friend for his work... that is ben wallace, the secretary of state for defence who has just stood up. he has been outlining what has been described as a refresh of the armed forces, a global response force. they plan to invest around £2.5 billion in army stockpiles, and munitions to improve fighting readiness as it takes lessons or [earnings from the war in ukraine. readiness as it takes lessons or [earnings from the war in ukraine. also announcing the creation of what also announcing the creation of is a global response force combining diploid and high readiness service personnel. and drawing on

capabilities from all domains. ajax is back on track, it started to be a bit of the units, the units are training them now. live from london — this is bbc news... the heat goes on — unprecedented high temperatures in countries across the world — with warnings of potental health risks. several fires everything to mainland greece. one of ukraine's most senior military commanders admits its offensive against russia isn't going as fast as he'd like. and — workers at mcdonald's tell the bbc of a toxic culture — including sexual assault and racist abuse. lessons or