Downing Street lobby briefing on UK military power, Trump meeting Putin and Brexit
2 min read
At a briefing for journalists a spokesperson for Theresa May answered questions about UK military power and reports Donald Trump could meet Vladimir Putin ahead of a Nato summit.
MILITARY POWER
On reports that the Prime Minister questioned whether the UK should be a "tier one" military power, the spokesperson said: "As we said in response to that story it is categorically untrue to suggest our position as a leading defence nation is somehow in question. The PM is strongly committed to the UK armed forces and to maintaining their strength and their ability to deter and where necessary defeat the threats we face. That was a private meeting but of course we are certainly a leading military power and the PM is committed to ensuring that remains the case."
TRUMP AND PUTIN
On reports that US president Donald Trump wants to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin possibly before the Nato summit in Brussels next month, the spokesperson said: "Any meeting would be a matter for them and just to reiterate that the PM has always been clear that our approach with Russia is to engage but beware."
EU WITHDRAWAL BILL
On whether the Government statement on the EU Withdrawal Bill yesterday was simply a reaffirmation of parliamentary practice, the spokesperson said: "The WMS was quite clear that the purpose of it was to set out the Government's understanding of the way in which a vote on neutral terms would operate in practice. The reason we laid it is because although votes in neutral terms are common they have not been used in legislation before so we wanted to be clear."
The spokesperson added that the EU Withdrawal Bill was expected to receive Royal Assent on Tuesday 26 June.