A former Tory defence procurement minister was facing questions today for demanding greater UK military spending in Parliament without revealing his links to a jet engine firm paying him £425-an-hour.
In a November debate, Philip Dunne who served in Government under David Cameron, Theresa May and others, criticised the “stop-start nature” of political decisions on multi-year defense projects in government.
It was followed up by his interventions during debates in December, and again in March. The Ludlow MP (now 63) was then a senior backbencher and a director non-executive of Oxfordshire’s Reaction Engines.
This firm makes super-fast, hypersonic propulsion system. It is a technology which has attracted the attention of space agencies as well as military personnel.
It has paid him £3,400 a month for eight hours’ work since July 2020, according to the Register of MPs Financial Interests.
In July it received a £3.9 million grant from the UK Space Agency to ‘support the development’ of its Sabre hypersonic engines ‘enabling low-carbon air-breathing space access propulsion technology to be applied more widely in the space sector and beyond’.
Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, stated that the public has a right of information about the role of Philip Dunne in awarding contracts to Reaction Engines. Therefore, all correspondence between Dunne, the company and ministers should be made publicly available.
Philip Dunne, who served as a Government Minister under David Cameron (above) and Theresa May (below), criticized the “stop-start nature” of political decisions on multi-year projects in defense in a discussion a year ago.
The Ludlow MP (63) was at that point a non-executive director at Oxfordshire’s Reaction Engines.
In July it received a £3.9 million grant from the UK Space Agency to ‘support the development’ of its Sabre hypersonic engines ‘enabling low-carbon air-breathing space access propulsion technology to be applied more widely in the space sector and beyond’.
Since 2005, Mr Dunne has been representing his Shropshire constituency. He was also a defense procurement minister for Mr Cameron from 2012 to 2016.
From 2018 until 2018, he became the health minister for Theresa May. He currently chairs the Environmental Audit Committee.
In a Commons debate in November last year he ‘warmly welcomed’ an increase in UK military spending, adding: ‘A significant challenge in defence budgeting is the stop-start nature of political decision making on multi-year projects, so this statement will help to modernise the equipment plan and get it back on track, which is welcome.’
“Does the Prime Minster agree that the United Kingdom can now take fully into consideration the UK prosperity effect of defense procurement? If so, will he do all he can to make sure that Treasury fully recognizes state aid issues as well as the potential costs of manufacturing in the UK.
The speaker raised defense spending again in the chamber in December, and requested that Treasury ‘accept that one pound is more valuable than a multiplier for 1 in terms of levelling up the UK’s economy.
In March, he spoke again on defense spending and the Government’s industrial strategy. He said: “Key to getting public and cross-governmental backing for increased defence expenditure is measuring its impact on the economy, particularly the regional effect in helping to level Britain up.
“That takes a lot of data. That is why I suggested establishing defense economics for the MOD and Defence Equipment and Support to be a useful tool to evaluate the merits and compare investment options when allocating funds.
MailOnline reached out to Mr Dunne in order for him to comment.
In a statement to the Times, Reaction Engines said: ‘Reaction Engines is a UK-headquartered technology company and has received research and development funding from both private and public sources as well as revenue from civilian commercial customers. Reaction Engines has ensured that all funding from the UK government was received in accordance with strict due diligence.
“Philip Dunne is a Reaction Engines director non-executive since July 2020. He has not attended or arranged any meetings with ministers nor been involved in Reaction Engines discussions with officials or ministers related to investment or government contracts.