Dan Jarvis

I am grateful to the shadow Secretary of State for his welcome. I was pleased to have the opportunity to speak to him on Friday evening. I do want to work constructively with him and colleagues on both sides of the House. I said in my opening remarks that I believe very strongly that the defence of our nation should be a shared endeavour. That is always the approach I have taken in this House, and I very much hope that it is the approach that we can continue with. I am also grateful to him for his support for yesterday’s action, as well as the cross-party consensus that I am, as I am sure he is, genuinely proud of with regard to Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine. I understand why the hon. Member asked about the timing of the operation, but I can say to him—and he will know this from his own time as a Minister in the Department—that the activity that was brilliantly and bravely executed yesterday was the result of weeks of military and operational planning. I know that he will understand very well that the UK has played a critical role in the interdiction of a number of shadow fleet ships in recent months, including through close co-operation with our US and French counterparts. The Prime Minister, as he mentioned, made clear back in March our intention to interdict shadow fleet vessels at a time and place of our choosing, and that is what we chose to do. The shadow Defence Secretary mentioned the former Minister for the Armed Forces, my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Selly Oak (Al Carns). I was saving him up, not least because he is someone that I hold in the very highest of regard. He is an honourable and gallant Member, and it is very widely recognised that he has provided outstanding service to our country in the most difficult circumstances that anyone could ever imagine. I am beyond proud that he sits on this side of the House, and I look forward to listening to him and working closely with him in the future. Entirely reasonably, the shadow Secretary of State asked about the defence investment plan. I hope, in what I intend to be the spirit of constructive consensus, that he recognises that this Government have spent over £11 billion more this year on defence than the Conservatives spent in their last year of government. I hope he will also understand that colleagues across Government have been working on the defence investment plan for many, many months. It is a hugely important piece of work. It is the first line-by-line defence budget in 20 years. I fully appreciate the desire of the shadow Defence Secretary to see the contents of the plan published as soon as possible, and I absolutely share that desire. Since being appointed Defence Secretary just a couple of days ago, I have worked very closely with my Department and colleagues across Government to ensure that we progress this work as an absolute priority. The Prime Minister has said that we will publish it before the NATO summit next month, and we will.