Speeches by Twigg.

“You are then looking at whether, for instance, we have too many commitments, given the envelope of working, and whether we should focus more narrowly on where our Armed Forces should be involved.”

“I understand that you are conscious but I am being specific. My question is about whether you have been asked specifically to examine whether we are too thinly spread and whether we should be more focused.”

“That is something that you actually are looking at and that will be part of your recommendations to the Secretary of State and the MOD.”

“How far are you down the road with that at the moment?”

“You suspect that that will be a significant part of your recommendations at the end of the report.”

“With that in mind, are you also considering the implications for logistics, sustainment and personnel? If so, how are you testing the resilience of those options?”

“Would you agree, then, that we are still some way off being able to replenish our current stockpiles?”

“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?”

“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 am not asking that question.”

“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?”

“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 …”

“What would you say are the three main issues out of your control that have had an impact on industrial capacity? What discussions have you had with industry to improve that?”

“How long do you think it will be before we get to a position where you are more comfortable—I am not going to suggest that you will be satisfied completely—with the situation?”

“The question that was referred to you by the Secretary of State was my question about how long it will take.”

“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…”

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

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

“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?”

“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?”