Defence Reform Bill

I understand that the right hon. Gentleman desires to get to the bottom of this matter—as do we a...

My right hon. Friend talked, quite rightly, about the first duty of government, but he will be aw...

My hon. Friend’s view on this matter is well known. Two weeks ago the Government set out robust p...

Will the Secretary of State give way?

I will take one more intervention and then I must make some progress.

Will the Secretary of State tell the House the annual recruitment targets for reservists for each...

I suspect the hon. Gentleman is referring to figures that were put in the public domain last year...

I am glad that the Secretary of State is about to expand on procurement. Will he confirm that in ...

The Government have a focused initiative to increase participation of small and medium-sized ente...

I am most grateful to my right hon. Friend for his compelling speech and for giving way. May I as...

We expect to reach a decision point in the commercial process next spring. If we go down the rout...

I am grateful to the Secretary of State for explaining what is happening with the GoCo. A number ...

The proposition is that a GoCo would be a UK-registered and domiciled company paying its taxes in...

The Secretary of State will be aware that there are concerns among those in industry that their i...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend, who will have thought very carefully about these matters. Of cou...

On a similar theme, what have been the discussions with the United States about the transfer of c...

I shall talk about confidential information later in my speech. DE&S has access to certain confid...

The Secretary of State might address point this later, but how does he envisage that the GoCo wil...

The Secretary of State will remain accountable to Parliament, but we expect that the GoCo will ha...

The framework being described by my right hon. Friend is largely welcome, but it seems odd that i...

I assure my hon. Friend that the arrangements for our relationship with the GoCo, which will be l...

I am grateful to the Secretary of State because he has given way many times. Before he turns to t...

My hon. Friend knows well, because he was a Minister at the time, that we made a commitment that ...

I asked the Secretary of State a parliamentary written question because the centre in Bishop Auck...

I do not know whether the hon. Lady was in the House for my statement on the reserves. If she thi...

This is just a small point, but I recall that the Territorial Army was deployed to the 1st Britis...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The role of the Territorial Army has evolved and it will evol...

I am delighted with what my right hon. Friend has just said. Will he consider, among the further ...

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend. That example fits exactly into the category of discriminat...

Like the whole House, I listened intently to the Secretary of State’s necessarily detailed analys...

I am delighted with the right hon. Gentleman’s tone. I do not want to put words in his mouth, but...

The right hon. Gentleman anticipates my point entirely. We wish to see reform. It is difficult to...

I am happy to clarify that point. As the right hon. Gentleman knows, we are in the process of dev...

I thank the Secretary of State for that genuinely helpful intervention. In Committee, we will hav...

I apologise for intervening on the right hon. Gentleman again, but that is exactly the point: the...

We are looking for a level playing field and a level negotiating table—if a metaphor it is—becaus...

I think it has always been the case for you, Mr Murphy.

You know me well, Mr Deputy Speaker. Since we were serious, we have always said—[Hon. Members: “O...

If you will permit me for a moment to continue straying off the topic slightly, Mr Deputy Speaker...

Order. May I suggest to the hon. Gentleman that he should try to hold back his speech for tomorro...

I take your strictures about our not using the speeches we intend to give tomorrow, Mr Deputy Spe...

The right hon. Gentleman must understand and be accurate in his descriptions. This was not a Libe...

Order. We are in danger of running tomorrow’s debate today. I do not want to do that; I want to g...

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. To be fair to the hon. Member for Cheltenham (Martin Horwood), it w...

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman but I was not aware that I had not explained the situat...

That is a kind offer from the Secretary of State, although he could have done so off his own back...

I echo the tone adopted by the shadow Secretary of State, but I am concerned by his direction of ...

That would be a very fair point if it was based on a fact. I suspect that our conversation today ...

I did not mention the Regular Army, but the TA. When Labour came to power in 1997, TA numbers wer...

My point is that in the same context, Regular Army numbers increased. I do not want us to bat eac...

Will the right hon. Gentleman clarify two points? Does he accept that the six-month cancellation ...

As the Secretary of State knows, the previous decision on training was based on the recommendatio...

I echo what was said by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State about the quality of our arme...

I am not sure whether the right hon. Gentleman is about to mention how the GoCo will affect curre...

As I have said before, the hon. Lady performs a valuable service on the Defence Select Committee....

Perhaps I can help my right hon. Friend. The expectation is that the competitive process will be ...

Oh, good. One problem is that the date for the invitations to negotiate has already slipped. That...

My right hon. Friend is making an important point. I hope that when the Minister winds up the deb...

My hon. Friend, as a former Minister responsible for defence procurement, has a great deal of exp...

Obviously, I have spent some time on the Defence Committee, along with the Chairman and others. W...

I recognise my hon. Friend’s expertise in this area. The exercise has been carried out in the bea...

I agree entirely. There is also the question of what people are required to do. There is some des...

I follow the Secretary of State, the shadow Secretary of State and others in paying tribute to th...

I think that I can reassure my hon. Friend on that point. The risk he identifies exists already. ...

My hon. Friend’s point is well taken, and I support the concept of the GoCo, but the plain fact i...

rose—

If my hon. Friend will forgive me, I will move on to the main burden of what I want to say today,...

I think that I can offer further reassurance. All employees in sensitive areas of DE&S will be re...

If the sensitive areas were for UK eyes only, that is a protection normally for intellectual prop...

I totally understand and accept the majority of what my hon. Friend is saying, but to compare us ...

My hon. Friend has been misinformed about that. An impressive airborne cavalry unit that I visite...

I am slightly confused by the excellent answer that the hon. Gentleman gave to the hon. Member fo...

They have almost exactly the same total span as us—basically, 12 months. Unlike us, they typicall...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Canterbury (Mr Brazier), who is respected in all p...

I agree with every point that my hon. Friend has made so far. One area that he has not addressed ...

The question of accountability is important, and I seem to remember that my hon. Friend mentioned...

I am provoked by the speech from the hon. Member for Hartlepool (Mr Wright) and tempted to tear u...

Standing in for my hon. Friend the Member for North Durham (Mr Jones), let me challenge this poin...

I do not want to get bogged down, but I agree that the £38 billion figure depends on the assumpti...

I do not make interventions like this very often, but my hon. Friend is being too bloody modest—e...

I am most grateful to my hon. Friend. I am very proud indeed to have been part of the team that a...

Let me begin by following up on the point made by the hon. Member for Mid Worcestershire (Peter L...

Sweden, a country of just 8 million people, developed its own fast jet fighter. Its defence indus...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman; he has made that point about Sweden to the Defence Committee...

I draw the House’s attention to my interest as a member of the reserve forces. I should like to s...

I thank my hon. and gallant Friend for letting me speak. As a company commander, I very nearly lo...

I am grateful for my hon. and gallant Friend’s intervention, as his experience in this matter wil...

I hate to interrupt my hon. Friend’s compelling speech, but may I suggest that she could not poss...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right that the proposal would be a good idea for the Royal Navy and ...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. and gallant Member for Portsmouth North (Penny Mordaunt), who...

Before my hon. Friend moves on to the particulars of the people being recruited, does he agree th...

I absolutely agree. There are some real questions that must be asked. Other significant changes a...

This has been a constructive and positive debate, and I am happy to follow the hon. Member for Ca...

It is a pleasure to be the tail-end Charlie in this important Second Reading debate. I begin, as ...

I thank my hon. and gallant Friend for allowing me to intervene. I was a staff officer in the Min...

Order. We need short interventions, not major speeches at this stage. I am sure that the question...

There is no question; it is a statement. We have not got the solution and we will still have a pr...

I am very grateful for that statement. My hon. Friend makes an important point. A concern that da...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way, then?

Let me finish this point about the Typhoon; then I will be delighted to give way. Unlike other ai...

My concern is that, as the tail-end batsman, the hon. Gentleman is bringing a level of partisansh...

Order. I might be able to help everybody. I know that Mr Ellwood is going to discuss the Bill and...

I accept your guidance, Mr Deputy Speaker, so I will not mention the AirTanker project or the fac...

Order. We are going to discuss the Bill. We are not going to keep going back in time, as much as ...

Again, I am grateful for your guidance, Mr Deputy Speaker.

If I may, I will talk about the ...

Order. I do not think that DFID is relevant to the Bill. I have allowed a little leeway, but I am...

I am grateful for your guidance, Mr Deputy Speaker. I shall come to a conclusion.

The Bill ...

I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.

T...

Not even half-baked.

Yes, perhaps not even half-baked.

The hon. Member for Cheltenham made some valuable points ...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

No, I will not; I will carry on, if the hon. Gentleman will bear with me. He has had more than hi...

Let me start by adding my sympathies to those expressed to the families of the two reservists who...

West Fife.

West Fife—my apologies. The hon. Gentleman touched on the need to maintain research and developme...