The notion that we are the least protected citizens in the European Union is, frankly, rubbish. Some of our protection is based on geography while some comes from our politics and diplomacy. I do not accept that we are more vulnerable to attack – even terrorist attack – than most other European states. If anything, the opposite is true. I approve of what the Minister for Defence, Deputy Michael Smith, has been doing in the field of defence, using assets to update equipment for peacekeeping and so on. I do not accept that we need to increase our defence expenditure, in absolute terms, when we have so many other pressing needs.