Armed Forces (Flexible Working) Bill [Lords]

The armed forces continue to meet what are called the harmony guidelines and we have stabilised t...

The Secretary of State might come on to answer this question: I acknowledge that members of the a...

The hon. Lady anticipates my speech, as I will be coming on to that. If I do not do so adequately...

I declare an interest as one of those Members on the armed forces parliamentary scheme; I am curr...

We are addressing the important issue of service families’ accommodation, with various new arrang...

I entirely concur with what the Secretary of State is saying about the roles that women can play ...

I have made it clear that the Army faces a recruitment challenge as the economy continues to grow...

I represent a constituency with a long and proud military tradition. I recently tabled a parliame...

I understand the hon. Gentleman’s concern, but there is nothing sinister about this. Different re...

I very much support this measure; it is absolutely right to compete for workers in the 21st centu...

My hon. Friend has a great deal of experience in these matters. I know that when the Under-Secret...

I hope to speak later in the debate. My husband served in the armed forces, and I wonder whether ...

Yes, this proposal has the support not only of the service chiefs but crucially of the service fa...

Will the Secretary of State give way?

No, I am just concluding.

The Bill will not address all the challenges of recruiting and re...

I echo the Secretary of State’s words about the outstanding professionalism of our armed forces a...

Does my hon. Friend agree that many of the welcome initiatives in the Bill are being undercut by ...

I share my hon. Friend’s concern. If we see the likes of REME in Wrexham and Prestatyn close, opp...

Does the hon. Lady agree that it is far more important for families to have some sort of certitud...

I think we are talking about two slightly different things. In the cases of Wrexham and Prestatyn...

My hon. Friend is making an important point. Has she had a chance to look at the figures that the...

My hon. Friend makes a good point, and I hope Ministers are listening to that major concern.

I thank the hon. Lady for kindly mentioning my report. One point it raises is that, although recr...

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his intervention, but his report also mentions the concern, ...

If a business had huge shortages in certain skills because people with those skills were leaving ...

My hon. Friend, with his business experience, makes a valid point.

Of course, our armed for...

Order. There is a 10-minute limit on Back-Bench speeches.

6.45 pm

As the Front-Bench speeches have indicated, there is a high degree of cross-party consensus on th...

On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. I am apologetic for interrupting the right hon. Gentleman...

The Secretary of State went at such speed that he did not even say goodnight or anything, so I am...

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I must say in defence of the Defence Secretary that he spent no few...

Order. That is no reason for him not to be here—let us put that on the record now.

But I did feel it was somewhat beyond the call of duty, and I believe that the whole Committee ap...

I am pleased to be able to speak for the Scottish National party today on flexible working in the...

The Bill is the result of successive reports and surveys carried out by the MOD. All have shown t...

The hon. Lady is making an excellent contribution. There has been mention of the hope that the Bi...

Yes, and I am sure that that will be the case.

We currently average just 10% women personne...

It is an honour to follow the hon. Member for Chichester (Gillian Keegan). In the role that I am ...

On the point about CarillionAmey, does the hon. Lady agree that, when we speak to serving personn...

I could not agree more with the right hon. Gentleman. In fact, one thing that has proved to be bo...

Flexible working would be great if it resulted in more people choosing to stay in our armed force...

I could not agree more. We need to be careful about how we roll out flexible working to ensure th...

At the heart of the Bill and at the heart of what my hon. Friend is saying is that the Government...

We are talking about a cultural change and a legislative change, but it is also a financial chang...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent North (Ruth Smeeth), who serves wit...

My constituent Flight Lieutenant Ron Smyth, who was a veteran of the Battle of Britain, died last...

I certainly agree with my hon. Friend that we should never take living in a free country for gran...

It is a great pleasure, as always, to follow the right hon. Member for Rayleigh and Wickford (Mr ...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Chesterfield (Toby Perkins), who, as usual, spoke ...

Fake news!

Thank you. We are still going to watch “Star Wars” at some point.

We are looking to train p...

I am enjoying my hon. Friend’s guided tour of British military deployments. Does he agree that it...

My hon. and gallant Friend is, unsurprisingly, right. Having served around the world, he knows we...

It seems almost cruel to inflict myself on the House following the hon. Member for Tonbridge and ...

I am very pleased to follow the hon. Member for Glasgow South (Stewart Malcolm McDonald). At firs...

I thank my hon. Friend for the powerful and eloquent speech he is making, particularly from his o...

Yes is the answer—absolutely. The Bill is about retention, recruitment and the attractiveness of ...

It is a real privilege to follow the hon. and gallant Member for Aldershot (Leo Docherty). His co...

On the point about retention, as a member of the armed forces parliamentary scheme, I have been v...

I am sympathetic to the sentiments that the hon. Lady has offered the House on that aspect of the...

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak this evening, and it is a pleasure to follow the hon. ...

I could not agree more with the hon. Lady about the wonder of Watchman V, having had the privileg...

I am grateful to one of my constituency near neighbours. I also see the hon. Member for Batley an...

It is a privilege to follow the hon. Member for Cannock Chase (Amanda Milling), who spoke passion...

The hon. Gentleman is right to point out the steps forward that the armed forces have taken. Does...

We should send a clear message from this House that those from the LGBT community are welcome in ...

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point about skills, particularly in critical areas such as nucl...

It is crucial in structuring the regulations and operations of armed forces that we recognise the...

This debate is very important for our armed forces, and I am pleased to follow some wonderful spe...

My hon. Friend started her speech with the important remark that one of her researchers is a rese...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to say that we need to do more to encourage organisations to s...

It is a pleasure to be called to speak in this debate, and to follow two Members who represent co...

Wow! I was expecting a bit of a queue, but—let’s do ladies first, then we will do the gentlemen.<...

The hon. Gentleman has mentioned his grandfather, and I do not want to pass up this opportunity t...

It is wonderful to hear that piece of family history. It is not always known that a large percent...

As proof that great minds think alike, the fact that my hon. Friend referred to the second world ...

I thank my right hon. Friend for that reminder of the sacrifice that people made—breaking those c...

rose—

I will take one more intervention and then press on, because I am conscious that other Members wa...

When talking about the breaking of the Enigma code, I am sure that my hon. Friend will join me in...

I am delighted to join my hon. Friend in that. Polish people also fought alongside British forces...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I am short of time, so I will not take any further interventions.

It is right that there is...

I rise to support the Bill. Having recently served on the Finance Bill Committee, one realises th...

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the cultural change we need to see is a senior officer being t...

That is not something I had thought of, but it is an important point. If not someone at a very se...

It is a great pleasure to speak in this debate. Having heard from my hon. Friend the Member for T...

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Robert Courts) for his contribution to this debate....

This debate has been an interesting one with a considerable amount of consensus. It has clearly s...

Despite the time constraints, we have had a welcome, constructive and largely agreeable Second Re...

Will the Minister give way?

I will not give way because of the time, and I would like to make some further comments.

As...

On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. I am slightly bemused. Can you confirm whether we have un...

That is not a point of order, but there are 33 minutes to go.

As I said, without exception, all Members from across the House came to support the people in our...

Will the Minister give way?

I will not give way—I have made that clear.

The Secretary of State, as did others, spoke of...