Baroness Smith of Newnham (LD)

My Lords, from these Benches, I thoroughly endorse everything that the noble Earl, Lord Minto, has just said. We often say that, on matters of defence, the Official Opposition and these Benches are at one with His Majesty’s Government, but a range of issues need to be dealt with, scrutinised and reassessed. As the noble Earl pointed out, it is excellent that the new Secretary of State for Defence has pledged his commitment and the country’s ongoing commitment to Ukraine, and that he and the new Prime Minister have been to Ukraine. That is a fundamental sign of the commitment of this United Kingdom to Ukraine and is very much to be welcomed. However, following the Statement made in the other place, there are still a range of questions that need to be reviewed and looked at in more detail. Before I go any further, I wish to associate myself with the words of the noble Earl, Lord Minto, and pass on our condolences to the family of the serviceperson lost last week in a road traffic accident in Ukraine. That loss—indeed, the loss of any personnel—is a sign of what every member of His Majesty’s Armed Forces puts on the line in service of our country day in, day out. We all acknowledge that. We on the Front Benches are clear that, as the Secretary of State for Defence said in his Statement last week: “If the first duty of Government is to keep our country safe, that is now a greater and more urgent responsibility than it has been for generations”.—[Official Report, Commons, 10/9/26; col. 1234.] That is clearly true, yet we do not seem to have a sense of urgency from the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in his current incarnation, or the Prime Minister. Suggesting that national security cannot come at the expense of social security raises some serious questions, as the noble Earl, Lord Minto, pointed out. What are His Majesty’s Government, including the Chancellor, doing to ensure that, by the time we get to the spending review next spring—we understand that we are not going to get the clarity we might want at the Autumn Budget—we will be on track for the 3.5% to which the Secretary of State for Defence has recommitted? We do not have clarity on that at the moment. Last week, in the wee small hours of the night, as we got to the end of the Committee stage of the Armed Forces Bill, I wrapped up group 13 as expeditiously as possible, which meant that we did not discuss in great detail my amendment on the implications of the delays to the defence investment plan for small and medium-sized enterprises. We need to think about this issue, because we need to be absolutely clear that the Government are investing and ensuring that we have drones, interceptors and everything else on which we are making pledges to Ukraine for our own security and defence, too. Ukraine might be at the front line of our security, but His Majesty’s Government owe it to our country, as well as to Ukraine and our NATO allies, to make sure that we are investing here and now.