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1,082 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDArmed Forces Commissioner Bill (Third sitting)I did assure the Committee that we would deal with this briefly. There has been a purpose to this brief debate, not least in placing on the record our praise and admiration for…12 Dec 2024HANSARDArmed Forces Commissioner Bill (Third sitting)The Committee will be pleased to know that I think we can deal with this fairly briefly. The amendment was tabled prior to the public evidence session on Tuesday, when I sought…12 Dec 2024HANSARDArmed Forces Commissioner Bill (Third sitting)At this point, I give way—hopefully it will save the hon. Member for Dunfermline and Dollar the trouble of tabling multiple parliamentary questions.12 Dec 2024HANSARDArmed Forces Commissioner Bill (Fourth sitting)I am grateful to the hon. Lady. She will know, not least from her service on that important Committee, of what is called the statutory override. In a nutshell, local authorities…12 Dec 2024HANSARDArmed Forces Commissioner Bill (Fourth sitting)The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. I do not have the NAO report in front of me, and that is my fault—forgive me—but from memory, it made the point that this was a nationwide…12 Dec 2024HANSARDArmed Forces Commissioner Bill (Third sitting)You think he’s being nice. He’s not really.12 Dec 2024HANSARDArmed Forces Commissioner Bill (Third sitting)I beg to move amendment 9, in schedule 1, page 9, line 34, at end insert— “(1A) The Commissioner’s staff must include a King’s Counsel, with responsibility for providing the…12 Dec 2024HANSARDArmed Forces Commissioner Bill (Third sitting)I understand the hon. Lady’s question, and I do not want to get into an “angels on a pinhead” argument, but that member of staff could be part-time. It could be that on the staff…12 Dec 2024HANSARDArmed Forces Commissioner Bill (Third sitting)For the convenience of the Committee, I will take amendments 9 and 10 in reverse order. Essentially, amendment 10 is intended to ensure that the office of the commissioner is…12 Dec 2024HANSARDArmed Forces Commissioner Bill (Third sitting)There are two questions there. On the first, the honest answer is that it depends on the KC. In my limited experience, different King’s counsels tend to charge different rates.…12 Dec 2024HANSARDArmed Forces Commissioner Bill (Fourth sitting)I take no umbrage at all at what the Minister said about Tuesday—Her late Majesty herself famously said that recollections may vary. I think the point has been made. Could he give…12 Dec 2024HANSARDArmed Forces Commissioner Bill (Third sitting)I beg to move amendment 11, in clause 2, page 2, line 15, at end insert— “(2) Once the functions of the Service Complaints Ombudsman become functions of the Commissioner, the…12 Dec 2024HANSARDArmed Forces Commissioner Bill (Fourth sitting)I only have two points to make. First, if it reassures the hon. Lady, I did read into the record that she had a conflicting appointment downstairs in the main Chamber and that…12 Dec 2024HANSARDArmed Forces Commissioner Bill (Fourth sitting)On the point about recruitment, I hope the Minister, who is fair-minded, would be prepared to attest that in the previous Government, when I was on the Back Benches, there was no…12 Dec 2024HANSARDArmed Forces Commissioner Bill (Third sitting)That is correct, and under the Tories in the mid-1990s it was well over 3%. The problem is that a lot happened in the 14 years, including a war in Ukraine. That is why we probably…12 Dec 2024HANSARDArmed Forces Commissioner Bill (Fourth sitting)I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time. As we come round the final bend, hopefully the Committee will recall something that cropped up quite a lot in Tuesday’s…12 Dec 2024HANSARDArmed Forces Commissioner Bill (Fourth sitting)I understand the thrust of the hon. Gentleman’s question. What it has to do with the Bill is that this issue cropped up quite a lot in the public evidence session. I respectfully…12 Dec 2024HANSARDArmed Forces Commissioner Bill (Fourth sitting)“He”!12 Dec 2024HANSARDArmed Forces Commissioner Bill (Fourth sitting)The clue is in the name: the shadow Cabinet is there to shadow the actual Cabinet. If there is not a Veterans Minister in the actual Cabinet, it is not necessarily axiomatic that…12 Dec 2024HANSARDArmed Forces Commissioner Bill (Fourth sitting)To begin on a light-hearted note, I thank the hon. Member for Portsmouth North for pointing out that I do not sit in the shadow Cabinet. If she wants to drop my leader a note…12 Dec 2024