Armed Forces Bill

It is a privilege to speak to the Armed Forces Bill before a Committee of the whole House. Indeed...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

I will.

I thank the Minister for giving way. I wanted to get in early to mention the armed forces covenan...

I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention, and I would be delighted to accept an invitation to ...

I thank the Minister for giving way so early in his speech. Unlike the hon. Member for Wolverhamp...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. I was very pleased last week to meet several vet...

I really appreciate what the Minister is saying. He knows how vital this issue is. I do not under...

I cannot get into the timing, and it would not be useful for me to do that at this time. I know t...

Will the Minister give way?

I am delighted to give way.

When the Command Paper was launched in 2005 by Bob Ainsworth, we had cross-Government work and ar...

It does not need to include Government Departments, because that provision is already made. There...

The Minister says that, but in effect it is not in place, because there is no redress. I must say...

The right hon. Gentleman knows that, in terms of all national provision, Ministers are accountabl...

Will the Minister give way?

I will give way one last time before I make some significant progress.

Can the Minister give me the same reassurance when it comes to Departments in the devolved Admini...

Absolutely I can, and I am very pleased to.

I turn to the technical amendments. Amendments ...

Will the Minister give way?

I am delighted to give way to my right hon. Friend.

Can the Minister confirm, before he gets technical, that the overriding consideration in all this...

My right hon. Friend is absolutely correct. That is the fundamental basis of all this, and that i...

I thank the Minister for his letter, but let us be honest, we are in this mess because of his pre...

I am grateful for the right hon. Gentleman’s intervention. I think we have to wait and see what S...

Will the Minister give way?

Yes, I would be delighted to give way before I crack on and make progress.

I accept what the Minister is saying, but his predecessor promised, when he got into a real mess ...

We have to do it the right way round. We totally acknowledge the central importance of getting in...

It is a pleasure to speak from the Dispatch Box on this important legislation ahead of Armed Forc...

Does my hon. Friend agree that that provision is vital? In the evidence sessions for the Overseas...

I thank my right hon. Friend for that point. He was a tireless advocate for the points that he ra...

I am delighted that the shadow Minister will continue to pursue that matter. Will he ensure that ...

I thank the hon. Member for his remarks. I know that he has also been expressing these concerns f...

It is appropriate that this Bill has come back to the House in the week in which we celebrate Arm...

I am listening to my hon. Friend with great interest. Does she agree that those who are dedicatin...

It seems totally obvious that decent service accommodation should form the absolute basis of any ...

Giving credit where it is due, I am of a similar opinion that the Scottish Government’s move to o...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his recognition of the work that has been done around the bedroom ...

As many Members will have gathered now, I have a passion for defence, having served as a young so...

May I say what a pleasure it is to follow the hon. Member for Wolverhampton South West (Stuart An...

After that speech, who on earth would be a Defence Minister? It is a great privilege to speak dur...

It was remiss of me in my contribution not to thank the hon. Member for chairing the Select Commi...

I thank the right hon. Gentleman —my friend—for those kind words. It was a real pleasure to chair...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Bracknell (James Sunderland), and I was privileged...

I thank the hon. Member for his kind words earlier. I want to stand with him on Tom Harrison Hous...

I am delighted to hear that and I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for making the effort to let ...

I have listened with interest to the hon. Gentleman talking about veterans. I will make two point...

Order. I just offer a gentle reminder that we speak through the Chair, rather than directly.

I take the hon. Member’s second point and I would not want to be painting a negative picture. I a...

Thank you for calling me, Dame Rosie. I am sorry not to be able to contribute to this debate in p...

It is a pleasure to follow my constituency neighbour, the hon. Member for Brecon and Radnorshire ...

It is interesting how, when we listen to a debate, our own speech changes according to what we ha...

It is a privilege to speak in this debate, particularly on Reserves Day and ahead of celebrating ...

First, let me put on record that my thoughts are with the crew of HMS Defender as they go about t...

It is always a pleasure to speak in any debate on the armed forces, but particularly this week, a...

I pay tribute to the men and women who serve our nation in uniform and our veterans who have self...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Bury South (Christian Wakeford) and an honour to s...

As a fellow member of the armed forces parliamentary scheme, does my hon. Friend agree that the B...

I agree with my hon. Friend: this Bill could have gone further both in putting all aspects of the...

Order. I have now to announce the result of today’s deferred Division. On the motion on