Armed Forces Readiness and Defence Equipment

The answer to my right hon. Friend’s question is yes. Could he explain to the House that one of t...

I said we would hear from my right hon. Friend, and indeed we shall. He is absolutely right. We a...

I am glad that my right hon. Friend has mentioned accommodation, on which I focused after succeed...

I support my right hon. Friend’s point. We had “fix on failure” for too long, although it has cha...

I really welcome this debate, in which five former Defence Ministers are speaking. That is probab...

Does my hon. Friend agree that that has been made worse by the MOD’s tendency to purchase off-the...

My right hon. Friend raises an important point, and we could almost have a whole debate about tha...

I am listening carefully to what the hon. Lady is saying. I have not cast my eye over the report ...

I am tempted by the right hon. Gentleman to go into all sorts of long discussion about how the PA...

Order. Although there are not that many hon. Members present in the Chamber, it is immediately cl...

May I begin by saying to the Minister for Defence Procurement, for whom I have great regard and w...

The right hon. Gentleman is in the unique position of being a member of both the Public Accounts ...

The Chair of the PAC is entirely right, although in the MOD context, if it is groundhog day, “gro...

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for giving way. I know that he is coming towards the end of...

I agree with every word my right hon. Friend, the former eminent Chairman of the Defence Committe...

The debate encompasses a wide range of issues. My colleague on the Defence Committee, the right h...

We are giving £2.5 billion in the next financial year to Ukraine, and it is money well spent, but...

Well, it is unfortunately scored as being in the UK defence budget, and in the claim that we are ...

We face a world of complexity and threat unparalleled in our recent modern experience. Scanning a...

I begin by joining the Chair of the Defence Committee, the right hon. Member for Horsham (Sir Jer...

He was Chancellor.

As Chancellor of the Exchequer, he cut defence expenditure, so there are parallels there, but not...

Another key feature of that era was the Treasury’s 10-year rule of basing defence expenditure on ...

It did. If we look back, the common theme —it is a matter of fact, whether people like it or not—...

I hope this does not come across as nit-picking—it is important. The 10-year rule, which was a ro...

The right hon. Gentleman has got that on the record. I am not going to get into a history lesson ...

Laughable.

It is laughable, as my right hon. Friend says. We need to make sure that we actually invest, beca...

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

No. I am sorry, but I do not have the time.

I now come on to what will happen after the nex...

It is an honour to take part in this debate. I pay tribute to the Defence Committee and the Publi...

A recent meeting of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly that I attended assessed that it would need t...

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for that. These figures seem extraordinarily large to us, b...

Given what the hon. Gentleman has just said, does he agree that it would be good to have tighter ...

I defer to those on the Front Bench on what transparency is appropriate, but I recognise the poin...

According to the MOD’s own figures in the latest supplementary estimates, the amount we are spend...

I thank my right hon. Friend for that. If we managed to get the genuine increase in defence spend...

You did.

I think we are up to speed on that— the 2030s.

The case for investment in the Army is obvio...

Order. I am getting concerned because although I do not have a problem with interventions, some o...

I echo the positive words that have been spoken already this afternoon about the reports from the...

Does the hon. Member agree that the strategy the Defence Secretary is employing has nothing to do...

I grateful to the right hon. Member. While I will not speculate on the Defence Secretary’s intent...

I thank my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Sir Jeremy Quin) for leading the debate with...

On that surreal note, let me quote Rudyard Kipling:

“We don’t want to fight, but by jingo i...

Will the hon. Member give way?

No, I will not. I am mindful of Madam Deputy Speaker’s injunction that she is fast running out of...

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I will keep this brief. For the record, the gentleman ...

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for that point of order, which he has used to make his point. Le...

Pomposity, but not a point of order. The right hon. Gentleman said that we were careful to concea...

I genuinely will not take 13 minutes for my contribution, Madam Deputy Speaker.

Our armed f...

Before I call the SNP Front-Bench spokesperson, let me just say that the Front-Bench contribution...

Well, this was a debate that certainly went in directions I never thought it would go.

It i...

I agree with the points that the hon. Gentleman is making, but I think that there must be a real,...

I agree with the right hon. Gentleman, and I am glad that his party has joined mine—I think; I am...

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

2.27 pm

I started by knocking a glass of water over when I came into the Chamber, Madam Deputy Speaker, a...

I am very grateful to the right hon. Member for making those points, but I would push him on the ...

No, it is not. We have a much better solution, which is to legislate for an independent armed for...

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

The Minister can have his say later.

The Defence Committee report says that capability gaps...

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

I will not. The Minister has 15 minutes in which to make his point. [Interruption.] Okay, I will ...

I am very grateful to the right hon. Gentleman. I have a specific question: does he support our t...

As has been pointed out in this debate, 2.5% is an aspiration for when economic circumstances all...

I am grateful to all hon. and right hon. Members for their contributions, and I thank all those o...

No, I did not. If the Minister had actually listened, what I said is that our contribution in the...

I am grateful for the right hon. Gentleman’s clarification. Either way, I think we can all agree ...

I am grateful to the Minister for allowing me to intervene. I did not apply to speak in this deba...

My right hon. Friend makes an excellent point. The hon. Member for Rochdale (George Galloway) acc...

Will the Minister give way?

The hon. Gentleman did not give way to anyone so, if he will forgive me, I will continue.

M...

The Minister says it is important to understand how ready our forces are, so can he tell us why k...

I am happy to engage with the Committee, as I did during the week on artificial intelligence. The...

On ESG, there have been many references to the second world way today. Is it worth reminding the ...

My right hon. Friend makes an excellent point. It shows why I want to see us supporting our sover...

Will the Minister allow a brief intervention?

As my right hon. Friend has already intervened, I hope he will allow me to make some progress and...

I like a lot of what the Minister is saying. It is right to say that we have, in Poland, Finland ...

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for that. It shows why I have repeatedly said that we need ...

Madam Deputy Speaker, as the shadow Secretary of State said, your predecessor in the Chair at the...