Contributions
1,819 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD War Graves WeekI very warmly welcome my right hon. Friend’s contribution, and I join her in thanking her constituents at head office in Maidenhead for all the work that they do—often, as she…14 May 2024HANSARD War Graves WeekThe hon. Lady is absolutely right. A feature of the fog of war, but also of record-keeping at the time and in the many years that have passed since, is that it is sometimes…14 May 2024HANSARD DefenceNo, it does not. The outcome from the defence budget, which must be the basis upon which the right hon. Gentleman is judging last year’s, includes supplementaries. In particular,…07 May 2024HANSARD DefenceI know that the right hon. Gentleman wants to continue this debate, but the fact is that it does as soon as we include the supplementaries.07 May 2024HANSARD DefenceI will not for the moment, because this point has been discussed ad infinitum. In any case, we are offering another £75 billion in cash terms, which I note that the Labour party…07 May 2024HANSARD DefenceNo, I still have not confirmed that because, before the extra half a billion, if we take the outcome from last year and the amount that was pledged for this year—including…07 May 2024HANSARD DefenceI think the right hon. Gentleman will want me to complete this section. I would be interested to hear him apply that commitment to his own Front Benchers, because this…07 May 2024HANSARD DefenceMy hon. Friend has pre-empted a passage a little later in my speech, in which I suggest that those right hon. and hon. Members on the Labour Benches who want to see more money go…07 May 2024HANSARD Defence Personnel Data BreachI would like to update the House on a data incident involving activity by a malign actor. In recent days, the Ministry of Defence has identified indications that a malign actor…07 May 2024HANSARD Defence Personnel Data BreachI thank the right hon. Gentleman for his words about the united way in which this House tackles such issues, and there is much of what he says that I can agree with. He asked a…07 May 2024HANSARD Defence Personnel Data BreachAs my right hon. Friend will know, the process of getting towards naming—if, indeed, a state-sponsored actor is involved—is a specific process set out by the Butler reforms, and…07 May 2024HANSARD Defence Personnel Data BreachI stress again that it is not that I am reluctant to name the malign actor, but that we need more information before I can do so. We are not trying to avoid giving the House this…07 May 2024HANSARD Defence Personnel Data BreachI can confirm that that review is already under way, and I can go further by saying that I am deeply interested in how this contractor, or indeed any other, behaves. I cannot jump…07 May 2024HANSARD Defence Personnel Data BreachMy hon. Friend knows that we take the view that it is absolutely wrong for Members of Parliament to be in any way sanctioned by other countries—I know that she has been…07 May 2024HANSARD Defence Personnel Data BreachI can tell the House that, specifically for the MOD estate, we do that all the time—every day. With regard to this particular contract, I am aware that we have been in contact…07 May 2024HANSARD Defence Personnel Data BreachIt is obviously completely unacceptable for a contractor to leave our brave servicemen and women in this position, so we take it incredibly seriously and are very concerned by…07 May 2024HANSARD Defence Personnel Data BreachAs I mentioned a few moments ago, the MOD successfully defends against millions and millions of attacks each day. The threat is very real—we have that in common with all critical…07 May 2024HANSARD Defence Personnel Data BreachI welcome my right hon. Friend’s comments about attribution. MPs and the electoral register have been hacked, and he therefore encourages me to jump to the conclusion at the…07 May 2024HANSARD Defence Personnel Data BreachThat was creative, if nothing else. The fact that we paid a nearly 10% pay increase—9.7% last year—to many ranks of our armed forces, and that the Conservative party has committed…07 May 2024HANSARD Defence Personnel Data BreachThe concerning thing about this particular incident is that SSCL is a primary contractor, rather than a subcontractor, but my hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise the wider…07 May 2024