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Following the recent heavy rainfall, flooding and disruption could continue to affect some communities in south west and north east England today (Tuesday). There is some continuing flood risk in Dorset and York as yesterday’s rain causes the rivers to gradually rise.

The Prime Minister reaffirmed the UK’s unwavering support for NATO and said we will remain a cornerstone of the Alliance. Secretary General Stoltenberg agreed that the UK is playing a leading role by meeting our commitment to spend 2 per cent of GDP on defence, contributing troops to deterrence measures in Eastern Europe and maintaining our independent nuclear deterrent.

As the effects of uncertainty diminish, the OBR forecasts growth recovering to 1.7% in 2018, 2.1% in 2019 and 2020, and 2% in 2021.

Stripping out the effects of the Bank of England interventions, underlying debt peaks this year at 82.4% of GDP and falls thereafter to 77.7% by 2021-22.

The meeting was co-chaired by Jesse Norman, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and Allan Cook Chairman of Atkins. This work is being led by the MOD but is closely aligned with the work on the National Industrial Strategy which BEIS are leading.