Earlier this week, I asked the Prime Minister a question on the outcomes of the meeting of the European Council last week, on Thursday 15th December.
I raised the point that, given the fact that our defence expenditure reaches the 2% of GDP goal and our foreign aid expenditure reaches the 0.7% of GNP goal, our European partners will still want a close relationship with us, once we have started negotiating our exit from the European Union.
The conclusions reached at the European Council, which you can read by clicking here, therefore demonstrate the strength of British influence. The conclusions on security and migration in particular stressed the need for European states to commit additional resources in order to strengthen Europe's security and defence in a challenging geopolitical environment, and I am pleased to see the UK already reaching these goals.
You can watch a video clip of me asking this question, and the Prime Minister's response, below.