Armed Forces Bill

I certainly do agree with that. This work is ongoing and is not yet done. We will continue to try...

Does that mean that the commanding officer is taken out of the loop entirely in cases concerning ...

No, because the commanding officer will be kept informed about the investigation and the stage it...

Can my right hon. Friend say what service offences he has in mind for immunity from prosecution? ...

Only the most serious cases would involve that kind of immunity—perhaps the Minister will provide...

I welcome the opportunity to speak in today’s Second Reading debate on the Armed Forces Bill. Thi...

On the argument about people visiting this country being subject to our military law, a big worry...

Of course, the hon. Gentleman has a lot of knowledge of these matters, and I appreciate that such...

May I say how much I welcome my hon. Friend’s appointment? I totally agree about the need to prob...

Order. There is plenty of time to speak. If the hon. Lady wishes to make a speech, I will put her...

I thank my hon. Friend, who is a member of the Defence Select Committee, for her welcome for my a...

Let me try to answer that, but first may I welcome the hon. Lady and her team to the Dispatch Box...

I am grateful to the Secretary of State for that further explanation. In preparing for my remarks...

Is anybody interested in speaking? I call Jack Lopresti.

12.24 pm

I was extremely interested in speaking, but I was being very courteous in waiting to be called, M...

I, too, welcome the hon. Member for Garston and Halewood (Maria Eagle) to her new role; I look fo...

Many of us in the House would agree with what the hon. Gentleman says, and we opposed many of the...

rose—

Order. I can understand the temptation, but I do not want to open this pretty technical debate in...

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. To respond very briefly, I refer the hon. Member for North Wiltshir...

I welcome the Bill, which allows our armed forces to be recruited and maintained as disciplined b...

It is a pleasure to speak in this debate. Let me begin by expressing, on behalf of my party, sinc...

Does the hon. Gentleman think that the existence of a representative body—a federation—would help...

We shall obviously have some idea of the Government’s thoughts on that when the Minister responds...

I rise to support the re-establishment of the British Army, a matter about which I assume there w...

If ever there was a Bill that underlined the need for a written constitution, this would probably...

I am astonished by that comment. The hon. Gentleman says he resents spending his time renewing th...

My point is that if there were a written constitution we probably would not have to go through th...

On a rather sad note, may I pass on my condolences to the families of Flight Lieutenant Scott and...

To emphasise my hon. Friend’s point, post-traumatic stress disorder can occur 14, 15 or 16 years ...

And that is why the military covenant should continue throughout the whole life of a veteran.

I am pleased to be able to follow the thoughtful speech by the hon. Member for Portsmouth South (...

I strongly agree with much of what the hon. Lady has said in regard to veterans, mental health an...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention and for his positive words. As I mentioned earlie...

I welcome this Bill. As was said by a number of Members, including the Secretary of State and my ...

If the hon. Gentleman had listened to what I said, he would have heard that I referred to the con...

I am not sure what point the hon. Lady is making. That is what I referred to. That is Labour part...

Will the shadow Minister explain how we could have a credible nuclear deterrent if we were to hav...

It is up to the Prime Minister of the day to write whatever advice he or she wants in the letter ...

I thank my friend for allowing me to intervene. The Scottish nationalist party would have six bat...

I agree, which is why the White Paper was complete nonsense. Not only did the sums not add up, bu...

Does the hon. Gentleman think it fair and equitable that Scotland has only 6.3% of the armed forc...

I know that the Scottish nationalist party wants to play up its victim mentality, which it has tu...

Order. We have moved way off the subject of the Bill. I understand that there is a desire to keep...

I would refer, for example, to the recruitment of overseas nationals from the Commonwealth. The r...

The hon. Gentleman is not exactly doing the idea of the United Kingdom a great service. Indeed, h...

Order. I think we are now going to get back to the Bill. We have had enough playing around. Kevan...

Certainly not.

That is all right then. What I will say is that you have finished on this point.

Absolutely.

I shall try to resist the urge to go off the point, Mr Deputy Speaker. The shadow Minister is a v...

Order. I think I might be able to help here. The hon. Gentleman might have been referring to the ...

The hon. Gentleman makes a good point, however. It is not just the equipment and how we deploy th...

The hon. Gentleman mentioned that as a Minister he visited HMS Raleigh. Does he agree that during...

Indeed. I have always said that. As the current ministerial team recognises, we should celebrate ...

We have had a useful and interesting debate. It is a pleasure to follow a veteran such as the hon...