Following this week's reshuffle, I am delighted that the Prime Minister has asked me to stay in my position as Minister of State for Defence Readiness and Industry.

Earlier today, a Russian naval vessel conducted a brief live-fire weapons exercise in international waters, approximately 40 nautical miles south of Plymouth.

Welcome, Prime Minister! Andy Burnham has become our new Prime Minister, and I look forward to working with him in the coming weeks and months to continue supporting this Labour government in any and every way possible.

The RAF’s new Storm Fighter programme will be the attack dogs accompanying our combat air operations. This is a good write up of my speech at last week’s Global Air Chief’s Conference in London on how the RAF will become Europe’s first 6th-Gen air force. aviationweek.com/defense/airc...

Royal Air Force's CCA Program Will Be 'Attack Dog' For Crewed Fighters | Aviation Week

The RAF's new collaborative combat aircraft program will act like a “guardian angel” and “attack dog” for crewed fighters, Defense Readiness Minister Luke Pollard says.

aviationweek.com

Dartmoor ponies are saved! The government have announced that they are delinking ponies from sheep and cattle for the purposes of grazing calculations, which will prevent a cull from taking place.

Yesterday was another incredible day for Plymouth funding announcements. In my Ministerial role, I was proud to be able to announce a huge investment into upgrading our naval bases- and that includes £7.1 billion for HMNB Devonport. For context, that is £7,100,000,000!

Nominations opened today for the next leader of the Labour Party. I’ve long admired Andy’s work in Manchester and can’t wait to see him bring that same energy to the rest of the country.

Two years ago Plymouth voted for change. Here’s just some of the things the Labour government has done in the past two years for Plymouth .

Yesterday we announced the Defence Investment Plan, a £298billion plan over the next four years. This morning I’m on the morning media round speaking to TV and radio outlets.

The newly announced Defence Investment Plan is delivering the biggest boost to our city's armed forces and dockyards in a generation. From securing skilled local jobs to safeguarding our national security, this plan puts Plymouth at the forefront of modern, future-facing defence.

Spoke at the NATO Industrial Advisory Group dinner on board HMS Warrior in Portsmouth tonight about the importance of collaboration, interchangeability and innovation in our defence industries across the alliance. Warrior is quite a ship, my first time on board.

Food security is national security. Good to speak to Exeter Labour and Coop Party members today at their conference on food security in honour of the late Saxon Spence. At a time of instability, we need more resilience and that means more focus on food, energy and water security

Thank you to the volunteers out on the doors this morning on the Hoe. Beautiful day for canvassing. Plymouth Labour campaigns all year round not just at elections. 🌹

Superb weather and awesome live music for the 26th Freedom Fields Festival. The organisers have done themselves proud. What a great community day out. Well done #plymouth

Good discussions yesterday with Norwegian State Secretary Marte Gerhardsen on deepening our defence ties. In an increasingly dangerous world, the UK and Norway stand together - on @NATO's northern flank and across the North Atlantic. Our partnership matters now more than ever

My Eurovision top entries are: Finland 🇫🇮 26 points Bulgaria 🇧🇬 25 points Poland 🇵🇱 24 points Romania 🇷🇴 24 points And loads on 23 points including Greece, Australia, Croatia, France, Lithuania, Sweden, Norway and Austria. Think I underscored Australia #TeamDelta #Eurovision

Today Anna Gelderd MP and I met the people who run the Tamar Crossings to press for no increase in admin fee for the Tamar Tag and for swift introduction of cheaper tolls for local people. It was a productive meeting but more work to do.

Great to join the Defence Industrial Joint Council as we make real progress for Defence - from driving procurement reform to launching the Office for Small Business Growth. This work is boosting UK sovereignty, supporting UK jobs, and delivering defence and an engine for growth

Plymouth knows all too well the devastating impact of toxic masculinity. To change the future, we need to support our young people today. Great to visit @ArgyleCommunity & @ViewhereCIC to see their work with students from Millbay & All Saints Academies on healthy relationships.

Today I’ve proposed a new station for Laira and one for Plympton as part of my campaign for a Plymouth Metro. Other cities have proven re-energising rail can deliver benefits and that’s what I want to do in Plymouth with the Plymouth Metro.

Out on the doors in Compton Ward this afternoon supporting James Chesson. I’m proud that @plymouthlabour campaigns all year round but there’s an added energy to elections. Clear it’s a choice between Labour and Reform in Plymouth on Thursday.

Skyhammer is the UK’s answer to Shahed-style drone threats. This week I joined live trials in Jordan of the Skyhammer interceptor missile, following a multi-million-pound contract with veteran-led start-up Cambridge Aerospace. We're delivering for defence and British industry

Fantastic to meet our brilliant UK troops serving in Kuwait and personnel from the Kuwait Coast Guard and National Guard today. UK personnel have worked alongside Kuwaiti forces to defend Kuwait from Iranian attack. The UK-Kuwait partnership is stronger than ever 🇬🇧🇰🇼

Good to speak to our forces in the Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus today. The Iran war is not our war but I’m very proud of the way our UK forces have protected British bases, British citizens and British allies and partners 🇬🇧

Good to speak to our forces in the Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus today. The Iran war is not our war but I’m very proud of the way our UK forces have protected British bases, British citizens and British allies and partners 🇬🇧

Great to visit St Mary’s Church to discuss their vision for the building. By opening up to the community, St Mary’s is securing its future. This is exactly the kind of "pride in place" we need across #Plymouth. Watch the video to hear more about their plans! 👇

Massive turn out for the @PlymouthLabour mass canvass in Compton Ward this morning. Our candidate James Chesson and his team have spoken to 1 in 10 voters in the last 30 days alone. Incredible effort. It’s clear: the only way to stop Reform in Plymouth is to vote Labour 🌹

It’s telling that Reform have not yet dumped this candidate for his vile antisemitism and attacks on Islam. He should be nowhere near public office yet he is still a reform candidate in Plymouth and he hasn’t been condemned by Reform’s local leader. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Reform UK investigates Plymouth candidate over anti-Islam posts

Ben Rowe is being investigated over a series of Islamophobic and antisemitic posts on social media.

bbc.co.uk

The Falklands are British for as long as the Falkland Islanders want to be 🇫🇰🇬🇧