Speeches by Martin.

“I join Members in paying tribute to and thanking our postal workers. In particular, I thank those at my depot in Portsmouth North, which I will be visiting for the second time next week; that was one of my first visits when I was elected. Like me, the posties and people of Portsmouth North were concerned when the previ…”

“Members from across the House are right to raise concerns about the security threats and attempts to undermine or infiltrate our institutions that we face from China. On behalf of all Members of the House, will the Minister pass on our thanks to all those who work in the security services for their vital work? Most of …”

“Sorry.”

“My understanding is that the last time that the defence budget was at 2.5% was under a Labour Government, and that in the 14 years under the Conservatives there was not a 2.5% budget.”

“As a teacher who worked in Portsmouth North, where we have a large number of naval families, I absolutely agree with you that SEND is in crisis. For families who need to move, the concerns are amplified. I sit on the Education Committee, and SEND is one of the top priorities that we are looking at with this Government.”

“Although we—and, I think, service personnel—recognise the right hon. Gentleman’s concerns about pensions in relation to those specific incidents, I will make three points if I may. First, the amendment states that “A ‘general service welfare matter’ may include issues relating to the provision of pensions”. That would …”

“Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?”

“You state—”

“Sorry. The right hon. Gentleman states that the Veterans Minister is vital and the fact that they do not sit in Cabinet now is a concern. Can he tell me which Tory MP sits in the shadow Cabinet to represent veterans?”

“I will come to it afterwards.”

“You say that your amendment does not tell the commissioner that they should make the appointment, but it states: “The Commissioner’s staff must include a King’s Counsel”. Since there is a “must”, what you just said is not correct. If we agree to this amendment, we are saying that the commissioner, who we want to be ind…”

“The Conservatives should be absolutely ashamed of their asylum and immigration policy, of their inactivity and of the complete mess in which they left Britain and our borders. [Interruption.] The anger and frustration they are showing is shared by my constituents in Portsmouth North on the small boat arrivals—their fru…”

“I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to make provision about sentencing for theft in relation to the theft of tools of trade; and for connected purposes. Over recent years, there has been a sharp increase in the theft of tradespeople’s tools, usually from vehicles. One in 10 tradespeople can expect to …”

“Q Thank you for your service and for doing what seems to be a great job in the circumstances. You alluded to the fact that this has been a long time coming, that you have been pushing for this and that there had previously been no backlog. The aim of the new Bill is to improve service licence conditions for service per…”

“Q You touched on this, Sir Andrew, when you talked about the size of the job and the role. Do you think that the proposals for resourcing the commissioner’s office are adequate to fulfil those functions? You talked a lot about trust and transparency, and others have spoken about impact. To either of you, is there anyth…”

“Q Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for your time this afternoon. All three of you will have seen much during your working lives and in the roles you have now, and had extensive conversations with service personnel. We are aware that there is an attrition rate from the service, low morale, dissatisfaction with th…”

“Q One of the biggest changes is made by clause 3, which allows people outside the armed forces to make a complaint or raise a concern. Do you think that will be a good thing? Mariette Hughes: I think it absolutely will be a good thing. The Bill pitches it right: such individuals will be able to raise concerns but, as I…”

“My son is in the Navy.”

“Q We have heard about the erosion of the contract and that the same issues are raised time and time again. On top of that, the MOD has already produced several independent although non-binding reports to Parliament—Haythornthwaite, Kerslake, Sheldon, Etherton, Atherton. What makes this different? How and why will this …”

“We are in a housing crisis. Last year, the number of planning permissions granted was the lowest in a decade. What work is the Minister undertaking to turn the page on the failure of the last Government, so that we can build the social housing that is desperately needed in places such as Portsmouth, where viability and…”