House of Commons and House of Lords Hansard Written Answers
Q
Asked by Sir Nicholas Soames
(Mid Sussex)
[N]
Asked on: 03 June 2016
Ministry of Defence
NATO
39103
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the progress made by NATO since the 2010 Strategic Concept in (a) territorial defence, (b) crisis management and (c) co-operative security.
A
Answered by: Mr Julian Brazier
Answered on: 08 June 2016
NATO has made significant progress on the 2010 Strategic Concept’s core tasks, through the 2014 NATO Wales Summit Declaration and in subsequent actions.
The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 outlined that NATO remains at the heart of UK defence and security and Allies regularly reaffirm commitment to NATO’s Article 5 in support of the Strategic Concept’s Collective Defence. The implementation of Assurance Measures and the Readiness Action Plan agreed in Wales has delivered an effective and united response to Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and its actions in Eastern Ukraine.
NATO stands ready to employ an appropriate mix of robust political and military capabilities to address the spectrum of potential crises, before, during, and after conflicts in order to deliver Euro-Atlantic security. The Wales Summit tripled the size of NATO’s enhanced response forces, meaning that the Alliance is better prepared and more capable to respond to all threats and challenges.
NATO is actively engaged in enhancing international security through partnerships with countries and international organisations; its support to counter-migration efforts in the Aegean is an example of close NATO-EU co-operation. Wales also included the unprecedented commitment by NATO Heads of State to halt the decline in defence expenditure.
Q
Asked by Emily Thornberry
(Islington South and Finsbury)
[N]
Asked on: 03 June 2016
Ministry of Defence
Nuclear Disarmament
39116
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 10 November 2015 to Question 14817, what progress the Government plans to make towards nuclear disarmament beyond the steps outlined in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010.
A
Answered by: Mr Philip Dunne
Answered on: 08 June 2016
The UK is widely recognised as the most pro-active of the nuclear weapon states on nuclear disarmament. We remain committed to maintaining a minimum credible deterrent and we believe that our nuclear arsenal is the smallest of the five Nuclear Weapon States as recognised by the Non-Proliferation Treaty. We have reduced our nuclear forces by over half from their Cold War peak in the late 1970s. We reduced the number of deployed warheads on each submarine from 48 to 40 last year and we are reducing our overall stockpile to no more than 180 warheads by the mid-2020s. We possess around 1% of the total global stockpile of approximately 17,000 nuclear weapons.
In addition, the UK plays a leading role on disarmament verification with the US and Norway and continues to press for key steps towards multilateral disarmament, including the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and successful negotiations on a Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty in the Conference on Disarmament.
Q
Asked by Sir Nicholas Soames
(Mid Sussex)
[N]
Asked on: 03 June 2016
Ministry of Defence
NATO: Armed Forces
39102
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the composition is of a NATO Spearhead Force; and what the UK role and obligation is in such forces.
A
Answered by: Mr Julian Brazier
Answered on: 08 June 2016
NATO’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) has been developed since the Wales Summit in 2014 as part of an enhanced NATO Response Force. The VJTF has a brigade sized land force held at very high readiness; NATO’s Standing Naval Forces include groups of destroyers, frigates, and mine countermeasures vessels; and the air element comprises fighters and bombers.
The UK is making a