On Thursday 2nd July, in a debate in the House of Commons, I made a speech on Defence. I stressed that we should have the military forces we need - probably costing much more than 2 per cent of our national income and reminded people that during the Cold War we were spending about 4.6 per cent of it defending our country. I mentioned that other priorities cannot be more important than Defence - the first priority of Government. "In Defence a wishbone is no substitute for a backbone" and "Defence is far too serious a matter to be fiddled", I said at various points of the speech which is on-line at www.parliament.uk/business/publications/hansard/commons.
Earlier in the day I appeared on ITV, Sky News, BBC London and LBC Radio again talking about the current threats to our country from Da'esh and Russia.