Speeches by Twigg.

“Let me come on to the industrial base. You have mentioned NLAW. I know that, for the operational reasons you have set out, you are not going to talk about Storm Shadow. To be able to send Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine or elsewhere or keep our own stockpiles, we need to produce enough of them. Another example is the …”

“Given all the issues and problems, many of which you have outlined today, what is it that most keeps you awake at night, now that you are four or five months into the job?”

“I am not asking that question.”

“Sorry—I am talking about resilience. You can put an army in the field, but for how long? I quite understand you have equipment, but as you would guess, we have been around this—we understand that bit.”

“I remember that conversation well, General, and we did agree to disagree. The key question, which you slightly touched on, is how resilient our Army will be. In other words, how long could we keep them in the field?”

“Those needing to know in what state the last Government left the armed forces should look at the report on readiness for war by the Defence Committee, on which there was a Conservative majority. I really welcome the Secretary of State’s statement, particularly on waste and on the recruitment and retention of key people…”

“Just to be clear, I am sure you weren’t suggesting that the MOD were concerned that they were not being transparent to the Committee, were you?”

“That is why we have you here, given your vast experience and knowledge. How can the MOD make this more transparent for the Committee?”

“In the past, Parliament has been able to monitor spending on the capability programmes via the equipment plan. There is some uncertainty about whether there will be an equipment plan this year, with the MOD considering whether it is fit for purpose. What is your view on that? How serious a concern is it?”

“Do you think they were trying to be more transparent?”

“I thank Members for their co-operation in terms of the time they are taking for their speeches. I say to the Front-Bench speakers that I am keen that the hon. Member for Liverpool West Derby (Ian Byrne) should get a chance at the end of the debate to wind up for a minute or so.”

“I will call Sonia Kumar to move the motion and the Minister to respond. There will not be an opportunity for the Member in charge to wind up, as is the convention for 30-minute debates.”

“I remind Members to bob if they wish to speak—I am pleased to see that they are doing so.”

“Order. If hon. Members can keep speeches to not more than four minutes—that precedent has been set well so far—I will not have to impose a time limit at this stage. Interventions will obviously extend the limit.”

“I welcome my right hon. Friend’s comments about North Korea and the growing alliance of aggression that needs to be confronted. I hope that we will have a strong response to that. I also welcome the extra £2.26 billion. My right hon. Friend made the important point—one of many—that the Ukrainians are being outgunned th…”

“I thank the Secretary of State for the work he is doing to support Ukraine. It is very important that we have a united front, and that we are there for the long term to support Ukraine, as we have already heard this morning. What is his view about the determination of our allies to see this conflict through right to th…”

“I will call Sir Ashley Fox to move the motion and then the Minister to respond. There will not be an opportunity for the Member in charge to wind up, as is the convention for 30-minute debates. At least one other Member has indicated that they wish to speak, and there may be interventions.”

“If Members want to be called in the debate, they need to bob.”

“I thank my right hon. Friend for his statement and the 100% commitment to supporting Ukraine, as we have seen previously. I welcome his statement about the investment in LMM defence. Can he say a bit more about the scope of that?”

“The defence industry manufacturing base is, of course, vital to this country, not least in the engineering jobs it provides. We know that steel is crucial to building armoured vehicles and ships, for instance. It is very important that we have a regular and guaranteed supply of steel, and we want to see more UK steel u…”