Contributions
1,320 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDDefence Procurement: SMEsAs a former procurement Minister, the shadow Secretary of State will know that the replacement of our jet trainer is long overdue. He will have heard me say earlier that, for the…19 May 2025HANSARDDefence Procurement: SMEsFirst, the new SME support centre, which we have announced and will set up shortly, will help with exactly those sorts of challenges. Secondly, the hon. Member is right to point…19 May 2025HANSARDDefence Procurement: SMEsIf the hon. Lady alerts her local small firms to the commitment I have made that next month we will set a target for direct defence investment in SMEs, she will then get…19 May 2025HANSARDDefence Procurement: SMEsThere may be a competition for the title of the biggest Armed Forces Day event in the country—I refer the hon. Gentleman to my hon. Friend the Member for Great Grimsby and…19 May 2025HANSARDDefence Procurement: SMEsI am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for that question. We will always work across parties in the national interest and in the interests of defence— I hope he is wrong that…19 May 2025HANSARDDefence Procurement: SMEsMy hon. Friend makes an important point. The access of SMEs to defence is very often through primes and subcontracting, rather than directly with the Ministry of Defence itself.…19 May 2025HANSARDDefence Procurement: SMEsMy hon. Friend knows better than most the challenge for small firms entering into the supply chain in defence, and she does more than most to champion their case. We want defence…19 May 2025HANSARDDefence Procurement: SMEsI congratulate and thank my hon. Friend, as well as my hon. Friend the Member for Aldershot (Alex Baker), for the work that they are doing on innovative finance, which will help…19 May 2025HANSARDDefence Procurement: SMEsMy hon. Friend is quite right about the fact that capabilities are now changing in weeks, not months or even years. He is also right about finance. That is why I went to the…19 May 2025HANSARDDefence Procurement: SMEsThe House will note that this afternoon we are without the Minister for Veterans and People, my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Selly Oak (Al Carns). He is halfway up…19 May 2025HANSARDUK-EU Defence and Security AgreementThis is a Government delivering for defence. Today we have agreed a new bespoke and ambitious security and defence partnership between the United Kingdom and the European Union.…19 May 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsI am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for raising his point of order. I was not aware that he was going to raise it, and I have to say that it is news to me; most regimental…19 May 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsWe are developing the veterans’ strategy in close consultation with veterans and the organisations that represent them. They are at the heart of the process; I can give my hon.…19 May 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsThe shadow Defence Secretary, the hon. Member for South Suffolk (James Cartlidge), shouts, “Total rubbish,” but his 12-page drone strategy was half-full of pictures and totally…19 May 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsI congratulate Lee Chapman on the event that he organised in the right hon. Lady’s constituency. I will indeed look into the matter, and if she has additional data and information…19 May 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsThe hon. and learned Gentleman knows that the Government and the Ministry of Defence are seeking judicial review of the coroner’s work on the Clonoe inquiry. If there are other…19 May 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsI would be delighted to, and if the hon. Gentleman would give me Mr Deach’s address, I would like to write to him as well.19 May 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsI reject any accusation of a veil of secrecy. I will look into the allegations that the hon. Gentleman makes, and I will write to him, or can meet him, if that is helpful.19 May 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsAny arrangements that we make will be in the best national interests of this country and the interests of our industry. They will be fair, and they will ensure that our UK…19 May 2025HANSARDUK Airstrike: Houthi Military FacilityThe hon. Gentleman is right to say this is bigger and more important than just UK or even US action. I reported to the House earlier that the broader challenges that he sets out…30 Apr 2025