23 Mar 17. Defence Committee. The Indispensable Ally? US, NATO and UK Defence Relations. Tuesday 28 March 2017 The Wilson Room, Portcullis House.
Witnesses: At 3.30pm
• Alexandra Hall, Director, Europe’s Defence, Security and Infrastructure Research Group, RAND
• James Black, Analyst, RAND Europe’s Defence and Security team
• Professor John Bew, Policy Exchange
• The Honourable Franklin Kramer, Atlantic Council
This is the second oral evidence session for the Committee’s inquiry into defence relations. The committee will seek to determine what US, UK and NATO military resources are currently available to European Defence and how these may change post-Brexit and throughout the new US administration. It will also look to establish the extent to which the UK and continental Europe are reliant upon NATO and the US in deterring and potentially responding to Russian aggression.
Other questions the Committee may look to address are:
• What form does the US-UK partnership currently take in the military arena?
• What does the UK offer the US that is not available elsewhere and vice-versa?
• What are the implications of the new US Administration’s policies for UK major equipment programmes and the UK nuclear deterrent?
• What will be the effect of Brexit on plans by continental NATO states for a European Army, and what effect might that have upon NATO and upon UK national security?
• What will be the effect of Brexit on plans by continental NATO states for a European Army, and what effect might that have upon NATO and upon UK national security?
House of Commons and House of Lords Hansard Written Answers
Q
Asked by Tom Brake
(Carshalton and Wallington)
Asked on: 15 March 2017
Ministry of Defence
EU Defence Policy
68136
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with his European counterpart on the post of EU Operation Commander; and whether the UK plans to retain that post after the UK leaves the EU.
A
Answered by: Mike Penning
Answered on: 22 March 2017
On 6 March 2017, at the Foreign Affairs Council (Defence), EU Member States agreed to establish the Military Planning and Conduct Capability (MPCC) for non-executive military missions only. The MPCC will be part of the existing EU Military Staff and its current Director General will also be the Director of the MPCC – there is no such post as EU Operations Commander in Brussels, these roles exist only in the field leading individual operations and missions. The UK has ensured that the MPCC to be set up is limited in size and scope, avoiding duplication with NATO and minimising costs. It will be for the remaining EU Member States to decide how the capability continues after we leave the EU.
Q
Asked by Johnny Mercer
(Plymouth, Moor View)
[N]
Asked on: 17 March 2017
Ministry of Defence
Public Interest Lawyers
68426
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he reported Public Interest Lawyers to the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
A
Answered by: Mike Penning
Answered on: 22 March 2017
Following his statement to the House on 17 December 2014 (Official Report, column 1407) on the Al-Sweady Inquiry Report, the Defence Secretary directed that evidence be submitted to the Solicitors Regulation Authority concerning potential breaches of professional standards by Public Interest lawyers and Leigh Day and Co.
Q
Asked by Lord Stevens of Ludgate
Asked on: 13 March 2017
Ministry of Defence
EU Defence Policy
HL6015
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Secretary of State for Defence approved the EU Security and Defence Implementation Plan at the European Council on 15 November 2016; and if so, in the light of the decision to leave the EU, what are their intentions with regard to further UK defence integration with the EU.
A
Answered by: Earl Howe
Answered on: 21 March 2017
European Union (EU) Member States have agreed Council Conclusions on the EU Security and Defence Implementation Plan, which aims to i