{"primaryDescription":"<h2>MPs question Lord Robertson on&nbsp;defence spending plans&nbsp;&nbsp;</h2>\r\n<p>The Scottish Affairs Committee holds the&nbsp;<a href=\"https://committees.parliament.uk/event/26615/formal-meeting-oral-evidence-session/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">next session of its inquiry</a>&nbsp;exploring how increased defence spending can&nbsp;support&nbsp;growth and&nbsp;the creation of skilled jobs in&nbsp;Scotland.&nbsp;</p>\r\n<p>In this session, the cross-party committee will hear from&nbsp;Lord Robertson of Port Ellon as it explores&nbsp;the UK Government's defence spending plans and delivery of the Defence Industrial&nbsp;Strategy.&nbsp;Lord Robertson served as 10&nbsp;Secretary General of NATO from 1999-2004, before which he was&nbsp;Secretary of State for Defence.&nbsp;He co-authored the government&rsquo;s&nbsp;2025&nbsp;Strategic Defence Review&nbsp;(SDR).</p>","secondaryDescription":"<p>MPs may ask Lord Robertson about&nbsp;the SDR&rsquo;s plans for defence to act as a driver of growth,&nbsp;delivery of defence spending and the importance of SME&rsquo;s&nbsp;for building a wartime-ready defence economy. Questions could explore&nbsp;the Defence Investment Plan, the Defence Industrial Strategy&nbsp;and&nbsp;what the UK Government can do&nbsp;to fill the defence skills gap.</p>","parliamentTvUrl":"https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/76ada023-9141-422b-87d8-991231d9ac9a","id":26615,"name":"Defence skills and jobs – Session 5","startDate":"2026-06-09T14:00:00","endDate":"2026-06-09T16:30:00","cancelledDate":null,"locationId":9,"location":"Room 5, Palace of Westminster","eventType":{"id":6,"name":"Formal meeting (oral evidence session)","isVisit":false,"description":"Formal meetings may be held in private (for example to consider a draft report) or in public (for example to hear oral evidence), and require a minimum number of members to be present."},"eventSource":"CIS","committees":[{"contact":{"email":"scotaffcom@parliament.uk","phone":null,"address":"Scottish Affairs Committee, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA","contactDisclaimer":"We receive a significant number of emails each day. All requests and invitations are considered but we do not respond directly to everyone.\r\nPlease be aware, the committee does not look at individual cases or specific complaints."},"id":136,"name":"Scottish Affairs Committee","parentCommittee":null,"subCommittees":[],"house":"Commons","leadHouse":null,"category":{"id":1,"name":"Select"},"committeeTypes":[{"id":1,"name":"(HC) Public Standing Orders - Departmental","committeeCategory":{"id":1,"name":"Select"}}],"showOnWebsite":true,"websiteLegacyUrl":"https://old.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/scottish-affairs-committee/","websiteLegacyRedirectEnabled":false,"startDate":"1979-05-03T00:00:00","endDate":null,"dateCommonsAppointed":"2024-10-21T00:00:00","dateLordsAppointed":null,"scrutinisingDepartments":[],"isLeadCommittee":true,"nameHistory":[{"id":134,"committeeId":136,"name":"Scottish Affairs Committee","startDate":"1979-05-03T00:00:00","endDate":null}]}],"committeeBusinesses":[{"id":9408,"title":"Securing Scotland’s Future: Defence Skills and Jobs","type":{"id":1,"name":"Inquiry","isInquiry":true,"description":"Inquiries allow committees to consider oral and written evidence on a particular topic. 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