What steps his Department is taking to support defence jobs in the UK. Continued high investment in defence should contribute further to economic growth and prosperity across the Union, focusing on industries where Ministry of Defence (MOD) investment supports 219,000 jobs.

I thank the Minister for that answer. Ahead of Armistice Day last month, I was contacted by Northwood military headquarters in my constituency to help organise a tour of this place for the submarine service. Does the Minister agree that during this time of global turbulence we should do all we can to support and champion the members of our armed forces?

Thanks to this Secretary of State for Defence, Lancashire is home to the newest part of the armed forces, the National Cyber Force. That brings huge opportunities to our county, not only through the thousands of armed forces personnel who will eventually be stationed there, but with the cyber-security companies that we hope will cluster around the site in the years ahead. Will the Minister meet me to discuss what steps we can take to ensure that the MOD supports the growth of its cyber-cluster, centred on the NCF, and the links between the NCF and local education providers?

The Defence Committee recently had before us representatives from Boeing, which has been awarded some £6 billion-worth of contracts in recent years. A representative confirmed that Boeing directly employs only 1,600 people in the UK. Does the Minister not agree that that is a pretty poor return on the investment and that it certainly would not be the case in the United States?

We welcome the Government's commitment to job creation; the problem is that they are creating jobs abroad, including in Spain. The Defence Secretary has just picked a Spanish firm to build the Royal Navy's three new fleet support ships. At least 40% of that work will go abroad and the best that the Defence Secretary could tell the Scottish Affairs Committee the other day was that the contractor will 'fully assemble the final ship in a UK yard.' As a result of the Defence Secretary's decision, how many jobs will be created in Spain and not in the UK?

Well, the Minister told me in answer to a parliamentary question that 'the number of jobs sustained in Spain…is a matter for the contractor'. We could have had 100% of the jobs in Britain. This is a dodgy decision, whichever way we view it. On 21 November, I received confirmation in a written answer that the prime contractor for this £1.6 billion contract will be a company that was registered only in May, with no trading history, with capital of just £10,000 and with two directors, both living in Spain. What guarantees can the Minister give the British taxpayer and the Royal Navy that this contract will not betray British jobs and UK industry?

All credit to Babcock for securing NERC's £45 million fleet renewal programme. Of course, Babcock and BAE should be gearing up to do 100% of the fleet solid support ships in a distributed model across the UK, but they are not because this Tory Government awarded a £1.6 billion contract for three ships to Navantia in Spain. When Sir John Parker stressed that MoD should embrace smart procurement, invest in yards and apprenticeships, and commission ships with an eye to export, did the Government realise he was talking about yards in the UK, not in Spain?

Without the requisite workforce or skills, Devon and Belfast are simply Union flag gift-wrapping for Spain's shipbuilding industry. Will this Secretary of State and his ministerial team resign when the bulk of work is delivered in Spain?