Speeches by Baker.

“Dr De Vore, I want to ask you about the growth agenda that could come from our work in the High North. The Government are talking a lot about defence growth, and dangling the opportunities of export deals to industry. What are the opportunities that you think can come from a growth perspective from our High North work?”

“I thank the Prime Minister for his statement and for his leadership. My thoughts are with serving personnel in the region. May I also mention our armed forces families in Cyprus, some of whom are my constituents? Clear communications from the Ministry of Defence will be crucial in reassuring these families, who are fee…”

“In Aldershot and Farnborough, we have a brilliant police team, but recruitment of officers is difficult because of the pay difference along the Hampshire-Surrey border. Officers can earn more by working just a few miles away, leaving our local police team understaffed and overstretched. What steps is the Secretary of S…”

“Q6. This year in Aldershot and Farnborough, we are looking forward to hosting the national celebrations for Armed Forces Day in the home of the British Army. Businesses in my community welcome this Government’s record investment in defence in the years ahead, but our banks still struggle to lend to defence companies be…”

“It will not surprise you to find out that I want to ask about defence finance. Our adversaries are redesigning their financial infrastructure to fight their war, yet our banks struggle to lend to defence in the fullest sense that they could. Can you talk about some of the innovative solutions to finance that the UK sho…”

“Just to add to that, the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank team estimate that, at the moment, our banks can lend £12 for every £1. They estimate that, with the credit guarantees that the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank could deliver, our banks could lend £30 for every £1. Do you think there is an understandin…”

“Our servicewomen are currently not as well protected by in-service body armour, which is designed around male body types, providing inadequate ballistic protection. With testing of female body armour now under way, will the Minister commend the work of NP Aerospace in improving women’s safety, and commit the MOD to con…”

“I welcome the Prime Minister’s leadership on his trip, including his words in Japan about the value of the global combat air programme, which is not only strategically important for global security and autonomy, but important for businesses that have grown out of my constituency, including BAE Systems and QinetiQ. Will…”

“I ask you about that because Government are clear that we take a NATO-first approach. When he came to see us before Christmas, the NAD told us that multilateral, joint procurement is definitely part of the solution of how we move forward. We get all these services and facilities through our NATO membership. We are payi…”

“I keep raising this with Government and what Government keep coming back to is that there is a whole myriad of options out there. It is going to take some sovereign-backed credit guarantees; that is the only thing that is going to actually get money moving. Yet, when I speak to different Government Departments, I am ju…”

“Secretary of State, since you have been in the job have you actually had a formal briefing on NATO facilities—the NATO Support and Procurement Agency, the NATO Communications and Information Agency—and how the UK could use them?”

“Great to hear. I just fear that we are not using these agencies because we generally think we know best and that actually we have had a tradition of not using them, so we continue to not use them. Would you commit to going and actually taking a fact-finding mission to look at those NATO facilities, and whether we could…”

“Secretary of State, let us talk about defence finance. Can you talk to me about what you think are the main problems for industry with defence finance, particularly when it comes to banks’ ability to lend money to defence?”

“But there is still a problem because our banks cannot lend easily to industry, and that means that our industry cannot get the capacity that we need to actually build stuff as they cannot get access to the cash because there is a load of international regulations making it absolutely impossible for banks to lend. Now, …”

“Do you accept that, actually, all we are going to do is drive inflation if we do not fix this issue? We are going to buy the same amount of kit; it is just going to cost more.”

“I am proud to speak in support of the Armed Forces Bill on Second Reading, and I do so as the Member of Parliament for Aldershot, the home of the British Army. In my constituency, service is not an abstract concept. It is lived, every day, by families who accept unique pressures on their time, their family life, their …”

“My hon. Friend talked about a total society approach to defence, related to the strategic defence review. Does he agree that we need a total Government approach to defence if we are to deliver on both the strategic defence review and these covenant commitments?”

“That is a fair point. I know that the Defence Committee will be holding Ministers to account on single living accommodation as much as we are on SFA. They both need to improve very quickly. The second and central point that I want to focus on is the covenant. It is absolutely right that it is strengthened and put on a …”

“A veteran in my constituency who is the father of five young daughters has spent nearly three years waiting for a four-bedroom social home while raising his family in a two-bedroom property. He has now been told that the wait could be a further three years, which means six years of overcrowding for a family simply need…”

“12. What steps he is taking to build more social and affordable homes in Aldershot constituency.”