Contributions
1,528 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Defence Acquisition ReformMy right hon. Friend is an absolute champion of defence jobs in his constituency in Shropshire. I was delighted to visit RBSL in Telford, which is making not only Boxer but…28 Feb 2024HANSARD Defence Acquisition ReformWith your permission, Mr Deputy Speaker, I would like to make a statement on our plans for reform of the Ministry of Defence’s acquisition system. Nimrod, Snatch Land Rovers,…28 Feb 2024HANSARD Defence Acquisition ReformI am grateful to the right hon. Lady for her comments. Some issues are above party politics and playing politics, especially when we look at the threat we face and our need for…28 Feb 2024HANSARD Defence Acquisition ReformI am very grateful to the Chairman of the Select Committee; he is absolutely right. Let me take those two points. On the importance of SROs, the biggest issue we face, ironically,…28 Feb 2024HANSARD Defence Acquisition ReformMy hon. Friend has also served and has great expertise in logistics and these matters. In many ways, that is the portfolio approach: having teams within MOD who are focused on a…28 Feb 2024HANSARD Defence Acquisition ReformOn matters of defence procurement, it always strikes me how many former service personnel will raise the issue of urgent operational requirements or whatever else we call them,…28 Feb 2024HANSARD Defence Acquisition ReformI am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for the broad thrust of his comments. Let me deal with them in reverse order, beginning with his point about arms exports. As he knows, we have…28 Feb 2024HANSARD Defence Acquisition ReformIt is a privilege to take a question like that from the former Minister for Defence Procurement, who followed another former Minister for Defence Procurement—the Chairman of the…28 Feb 2024HANSARD Defence Acquisition ReformIt is interesting to hear what the hon. Gentleman has just been WhatsApped by the Labour Whips Office, but I am happy to share what is happening in the real world if he wants to…28 Feb 2024HANSARD Defence Acquisition ReformI am honoured by my right hon. Friend. We enjoy our robust exchanges, but that was an example that I shall particularly remember. The phrase “a sense of urgency” is, I think, what…28 Feb 2024HANSARD Defence Acquisition ReformMy hon. Friend, who speaks with great expertise from significant ministerial experience, makes an excellent point. I agree with him wholeheartedly. There has been some debate…28 Feb 2024HANSARD Defence Acquisition ReformI am very grateful to my constituency neighbour—another Essex MP with a great passion for defence procurement reform. We have discussed it at length. He is absolutely right to…28 Feb 2024HANSARD Defence Acquisition ReformI am grateful to my hon. Friend. He is a champion of the rotary industry, which supports so many jobs in his constituency. It is thanks to the championing of that interest by him…28 Feb 2024HANSARD Defence Acquisition ReformMy hon. Friend makes an important point about Samuel Pepys. My diplomatic answer would be that defence procurement has perhaps been subject to spiral development for longer than…28 Feb 2024HANSARDUkraine: Military EquipmentI apologise for missing the first part of the hon. Gentleman’s question; I will write to him on that. On the second part, within the training figures I mentioned, there is…27 Feb 2024HANSARDUkraine: Military EquipmentMy hon. Friend as ever asks an excellent question. As he highlighted, this has to be an international effort. There is a tendency to overplay the negative voices, but my…27 Feb 2024HANSARDUkraine: Military EquipmentAs ever, we save the best till last. [Interruption.] Oh, the hon. Gentleman is second to last, my apologies. Nevertheless, I shall always say that when he is called to speak. The…27 Feb 2024HANSARDUkraine: Military EquipmentI assure the hon. Lady that at every international meeting and engagement we attend, whether multilaterally or bilaterally, we do everything possible to encourage our allies to…27 Feb 2024HANSARDUkraine: Military EquipmentI would not say that the cupboard is empty. We have to have our own levels of holdings for our own military, but we have gifted as much as we can. The obvious example is the AS-90…27 Feb 2024HANSARDUkraine: Military EquipmentMy right hon. Friend, who speaks with great passion, is right to talk about the need to hold Russia to account. We have said that repeatedly. We have said that in reference both…27 Feb 2024