Speeches by Carns.

“I will make some progress. New clause 2 would require the Secretary of State to lay a defence investment plan before both Houses of Parliament. The Prime Minister has been very clear that the defence investment plan will be published before the NATO summit, and we are working hard to finalise it. I recommend that the r…”

“I commend that fantastic question. Yes, I have seen the defence investment plan. Importantly, we are primarily focused on learning the lessons from Ukraine and acting upon them—something that the last Government failed to do at the right scale, hence why I left the military. New clauses 1 and 6 seek to exempt members o…”

“I remind Conservative Members that clause 12 of the Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill, introduced by the previous Government, would have required any future Secretary of State to consider whether to make a derogation under article 15 in relation to significant overseas operations. The previous G…”

“We will provide an update on progress once we have spoken to the Home Office and when the Bill comes back to the House. My hon. Friend the Member for Slough (Mr Dhesi), who makes fantastic efforts with the Defence Committee, highlighted the binding commitment across Whitehall Departments that the covenant will be expan…”

“No, I will make some progress. The advocacy of my hon. Friend the Member for Leyton and Wanstead (Mr Bailey) and his support for the armed forces has been remarkable. The Minister for Veterans and People has met Ministers from the Department for Education and the Home Office to discuss both the points that my hon. Frie…”

“The right hon. Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murrison), with his extensive experience, highlighted that the Bill increases the recall age of reserves to 65 years. Although it should not be a surprise, I remind him that there is an opt-in for those who have already left the armed forces and an opt-out for those wh…”

“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire South (Johanna Baxter) for highlighting the barbaric invasion of Ukraine by Russia, in particular the continual bombardment of Kyiv, and for championing the defence housing strategy, through which nine out of 10 houses will get modernisation—that is 40,000 …”

“The hon. Member for Eastbourne (Josh Babarinde) set out his valiant and impressive support for Pauline, who was a fantastic example of the veterans community; we will continue to take his argument forward in Government.”

“My hon. Friend the Member for North Durham (Luke Akehurst) supported delivering the DIP before the NATO summit. We will move forward with that.”

“The hon. Member for South Northamptonshire (Sarah Bool) highlighted the utility of an English veterans commissioner and how that could connect into Valour. As she said, the role of veterans commissioner is not a statutory office, so legislation is not required but could provide utility in the future; I think this point…”

“My hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh South West (Dr Arthur) was correct to talk about the importance of getting the relationship between Valour and the English veterans commissioner right.”

“My hon. Friend the Member for Stevenage (Kevin Bonavia) was right to highlight the postcode lottery of the covenant. We have now extended the covenant to over 12 areas of policy to ensure that people can be held to account. Equally, although the covenant can be accepted, in some cases it will indeed be applied differen…”

“My hon. Friend the Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire North (Alison Taylor) was right to champion veterans across the entire country, from Scotland to Northern Ireland, Wales and England, and to set out the support they give back to the country once they have left the armed forces.”

“My hon. Friend the Member for South East Cornwall (Anna Gelderd) mentioned Cameron and Lexi. I congratulate Cameron on proposing after completing initial training—I can tell the House that after I completed my initial training, I was in no fit state to propose to anyone!”

“The right hon. Members for Rayleigh and Wickford and for South West Wiltshire asked whether it is right to include veteran officers on boards to increase the depth and wealth of experience on courts martial. Since 2021, we have increased the potential pool of board members and OR-7s—the equivalent of Royal Marine colou…”

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“This Bill is a great step forward for the armed forces. It renews our armed forces at a time of heightened geopolitical tension. It delivers a defence housing service—a once-in-a-generation chance to deal with the acute problem, and with the systemic failure of the last 14 years. The covenant expands from three to 12 p…”

“The service justice system will provide better protections and better services to all who serve with our armed forces. The amendments to reserves will simplify the system and enhance our strategic reserve, should we need it at a time of crisis. There are also smaller amendments, such as freedoms to counter drones and p…”

“I will finish where I started: by thanking everyone across the entire House, the Committee, the Clerks and the staff for pulling the Bill together and making it a success.”

““(and subsection (2A) is to be read accordingly)”.”