B

Baroness Fraser of Craigmaddie (Con)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 3 June 2025

Debate

Strategic Defence Review

Contribution

My Lords, I add my congratulations to the noble Lord, Lord Robertson, and generally offer my support for the review. Everything that we have talked about has to be underpinned by good logistical and operational support. The Minister will not be surprised that I immediately looked to find where the RFA sat within the report. I was pleased to find that page 106 acknowledges the critical role played by the RFA. Is the Minister and the MoD more widely concerned—notwithstanding my noble friend Lord Minto’s point about amphibious capabilities—that the RFA has only three Bay-class vessels, aged between 16 and 25 years old, and that the newest vessel, “Stirling Castle”, has been acquired by the Royal Navy due to lack of personnel? I do not really understand what the review means when it says that the Royal Navy will be “using commercial vessels and burden-sharing with NATO Allies to augment the … RFA … Fleet … in non-contested environments”. Does the Minister agree with the review and with me about the essential need to support the RFA, which underpins everything?

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