Contributions
860 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Loss of Secret DocumentsI thank the hon. Gentleman for his question. I will not go into the details regarding HMS Defender—that has been the source of a written ministerial statement—but it and its…28 Jun 2021HANSARD Loss of Secret DocumentsI understand my hon. and gallant Friend’s concern, which will be shared by other hon. and gallant Members and by his former serving colleagues, but I think it is important that we…28 Jun 2021HANSARD Loss of Secret DocumentsI thank my hon. Friend for his question. I can reassure him that we always emphasise the need for safety and security on Defender and other ships in the Royal Navy. As the right…28 Jun 2021HANSARD Loss of Secret DocumentsThere are procedures in place if lost documents are reported. The investigation will certainly check that we took the right actions on the reporting and in the actions that were…28 Jun 2021HANSARD Loss of Secret DocumentsThe hon. Gentleman gets the point. I am sure that the Secretary of State would have wished to be here otherwise, so please do not take it as a lack of interest on his part. He is…28 Jun 2021HANSARD Loss of Secret DocumentsI have no evidence to suggest that the safety of our personnel has been compromised, but clearly, as I have said, this is an investigation. It will go through the documents. It…28 Jun 2021HANSARDVulcan Site at Dounreay: Defueling and Fuel ManagementOn 25 March 2015, the then Secretary of State for Defence, the right hon. Sir Michael Fallon, made a statement about the findings of the Royal Navy nuclear reactor prototype…17 Jun 2021HANSARD Kenly Wind FarmLet me begin by thanking the hon. Member for North East Fife (Wendy Chamberlain) for raising this important issue. I know from correspondence how keen she is to support the…15 Jun 2021HANSARD Ajax ProgrammeI had imagined that whatever my response, the right hon. Gentleman would accuse me of being complacent. That is the expectation I had and I was not disappointed. We are not in any…08 Jun 2021HANSARD Ajax ProgrammeMy understanding is that those turrets have been built by Lockheed Martin and are being constructed in Ampthill in Bedfordshire. That is my understanding, but I will double-check.…08 Jun 2021HANSARD Ajax ProgrammeHe did, as I have done recently. It is an impressive factory with impressive personnel doing a good job. We just need to make certain that the whole thing fits together and works,…08 Jun 2021HANSARD Ajax ProgrammeMy right hon. Friend speaks with considerable experience, and I thank him for what he says about the production line. I do not know whether he ever had the chance to visit…08 Jun 2021HANSARD Ajax ProgrammeI agree with the hon. Lady that we need to find the root cause of the defects—that is absolutely right—or at least, we have to first identify that there are defects and then make…08 Jun 2021HANSARD Ajax ProgrammeI am so glad that my right hon. Friend asks that question, because it requires a very simple answer: absolutely. Unfortunately, as he rightly says, there has been a long pattern…08 Jun 2021HANSARD Ajax ProgrammeThe hon. Gentleman asks serious questions. I just reiterate that there is a difference between what a vehicle can do and what it is certified to do. With things like fire or…08 Jun 2021HANSARD Ajax ProgrammeI am absolutely delighted to. There are some 230 companies, all in all, as part of the supply chain. A lot of them had a tough time during covid; I mentioned Merthyr, where…08 Jun 2021HANSARD Ajax ProgrammeThe right hon. Gentleman made a number of points. On the vibration, if I took the word of the supplier, we would have met IOC and we would not have issues. I take the word of our…08 Jun 2021HANSARD Ajax ProgrammeI would not dream of answering for the Ministers in the last Administration back in 2010, but I would say a couple of points in mitigation. First, on a tiny point of detail, this…08 Jun 2021HANSARD Ajax ProgrammeYes, we are absolutely committed to Ajax. We have come a long way with this project. It was originally approved by Ministers of a different colour back in March 2010, and in…08 Jun 2021HANSARD Ajax ProgrammeI thank the hon. Gentleman for his wide range of questions. I think he ought to be slightly careful in damning all defence procurement. He mentions Nimrod, but I am sure he is…08 Jun 2021