Speeches by Lewell.

“I do not want to hog any more time, General Walker, but I am not convinced that if something had happened to me of a sexually abusive nature, as a young recruit in that college, I would know where to go and I would have the confidence to go to somebody. Do you not feel that there is a two-tier system compared with othe…”

“My question is directed to you, General Walker, and it is about the Army Foundation College at Harrogate, where junior soldiers, 16 to 18-year-old children, are trained. We as a Committee have visited the college, so my line of questioning today is no reflection on the impressive young people we met or the staff there.…”

“I do not wish to interrupt you, General Walker, but some of the safeguarding notifications concerned staff at the college, so that was not young people but staff. This is what I am trying to get to the nub of. The data does not bear out that things have improved there, and if I was a young woman studying or training at…”

“I am interested in whether the general knows, because it is the general’s remit.”

“I was referring to the Children’s Commissioner, who has statutory rights and would visit any other residential college. I think it would be good if she could visit, because it does look like there is a two-tier system for the military college compared with other residential colleges for children.”

“And the safeguarding alerts in the other residential colleges are nowhere near as high as this. I do not want to hog time, Chair, but I think it is important to put that down.”

“And how would I do that? Can I leave whenever I want? Can I walk out whenever I want?”

“I am sorry to interrupt you, Sam, and I do not want to go around in circles, but would they have access to a computer? We could go on all day, but I am just trying to get to the practicalities. There is clearly something not right; the data does not back up. There is something clearly going awry at the college, because…”

“Do you know when her report is due?”

“Heugh Street bridge in South Shields was closed over four months ago by the council, as it deemed it to be unsafe. It was used by over 5,000 vehicles per day and the closure is damaging my local economy. The council is currently unable to give any timescale for reopening the bridge and I am led to believe there is no f…”

“Yesterday I was very sorry to be absent from the very powerful Adjournment debate led by my hon. Friend the Member for Salford (Rebecca Long Bailey), who is seeking justice for our nuclear veterans after previously covered-up information has proved that there was radiation fallout. My right hon. Friend the Leader of th…”

“The Secretary of State and Ministers have been very clear that this is also about building trust with the armed forces community, and you do not do that just by responding; you do that by going out there and being proactive.”

“What I was trying to get at is will you be proactive, not just reactive?”

“Another quick question from me. The process for your appointment was quite different from how these appointments normally work. Did you have a formal interview at any stage?”

“You sent your CV across on the 10th, and the 13th was your interview.”

“Thank you.”

“Just to follow up on my colleague, Mike Martin, you mentioned outreach visits, and my experience of commissioners, say the Children’s Commissioner, is that they are very reactive as opposed to proactive. Do you have any ideas, based on your knowledge of the role already and the volume of complaints coming through, wher…”

“Good morning. Touching on what the Chair discussed there, you will be aware that the Committee has expressed concerns that this role is based on the German model. However, the German commissioner is different, in that the role here is funded by the Secretary of State and he approves the staffing arrangements. Also, in …”

“How would you do that?”

“When did your application go in?”