Speeches by Thomas.

“Minister, can we talk about the private sector? We have covered some of the areas of Government that the Armed Forces Bill may extend the covenant to. All of you have also mentioned the changing character of warfare and the changing requirement for skills. You spoke, Admiral, about a kind of porosity and this idea that…”

“The Committee has come back recently from a trip to Finland and Estonia, where there is a whole-of-society defence culture that permeates from the public sector and the Government well into the private sector, which does not happen in this country. Minister, you have made comments previously that we might need to adopt…”

“Ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine are under way, whatever our opinion of them, but the eager eye of Putin may now look to other former Soviet countries, such as the Baltic states. I was in Estonia a couple of weeks ago, and the distance between the Russian border and the Russian-held Kaliningrad territory is j…”

“T5. The security of Europe is absolutely paramount. What new steps is the Secretary of State taking to deter Russia from further invading European borders given that we are now in a new situation of ongoing negotiations?”

“The tragic events in Southport were horrific, and I welcome the Government’s review of the Prevent policy. The murderer should have been monitored better. We must implement steps to ensure that this never happens again. The tragic incident set off civil unrest across the country, and it found its way to Plymouth. In th…”

“I am so sorry. If I said not including the MOD, what I meant to say was “not limited to”. Clearly, we need to include the MOD.”

“Thank you for that answer. Those are similar concepts to the ones we have spoken about already this morning. The legislation will, I hope, include reference to private organisations and other Government Departments outside the MOD—the Treasury, DWP, Health and Social Care. If it does not, it is not a good piece of legi…”

“I came out of service quite recently, and my understanding of the Armed Forces Covenant while in service was informed by colleagues. It was an idea—a concept. It was very hard to find it written down, and very hard to find out how it would be enforced or applied to anything that affected mine or my colleagues’ lives. T…”

“Thank you both for joining us today. You have both said that it is important to make sure that, when people leave service, the skills they have acquired in service are recognised. Sir Nick, you just said that transition should start on day one of service. The Government are committed to putting the Covenant into legisl…”

“Sir Nick, do you think that the accreditation exists already in the civilian world and that we should be able to use that accreditation and say that people have gained it in service? Or do you think that we need to create new types of accreditation and recognition and then explain them to civilian employers and say, “T…”

“Mark, do you have anything to add to that?”

“Let the record state that the MOD should be included. I am really trying to find some specific lines. Everything we have said so far, I am sure the Bill will do, in some way or another, but it is down to the specific language—what actually do we want to happen? This is an opportunity to shape that. The MOD will be look…”

“No, that is great.”

“It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Mr Stringer. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor (Alan Strickland) for securing this important debate. He is a huge champion for SMEs in his constituency and for national security in general. I will begin by pointing out that defence primes…”

“This is quite a direct question, Ms van Rij. Brexit has made Europe less secure. Has it made Britain less secure? Armida van Rij: That is loaded. Brexit has obviously complicated UK engagement in EU defence mechanisms. As the EU, especially the European Commission, is moving increasingly into that space, particularly i…”

“Before you start, can I ask another question? That was a fantastic scene setter. Thank you very much. We understand those three areas you have set out. I want to get straight into this concept that has been talked about recently of public perception and the need to bring the public on the journey as we think about our …”

“Good morning. Thank you both for joining us. My question is about threats to Europe and how they are perceived in other countries, as opposed to the UK. In the UK, we talk a lot about Ukraine, and rightly so. We try to emphasise the point for the British public to be aware that Ukraine has been invaded by Russia, and R…”

“The hon. Member is absolutely correct. It is not quite in my constituency—it is in the neighbouring constituency, Plymouth Sutton and Devonport—but I agree. In terms of SMEs, primes can also offer a service to the Government and the Ministry of Defence. If we had a massive change in system, which would be extremely har…”

“On our journey to increasing defence spending, it is crucial that we keep the public on side, especially given our dire financial inheritance from the Conservative party and the hollowed-out state of our armed forces, as Conservative Members have acknowledged. That is why I welcome the Government’s break from tradition…”

“Over the past few days we have seen three notable things happen: Storm Éowyn has had tragic consequences; the CIA has announced that it thinks it is more likely that covid came from a Chinese laboratory than from animals—that is, it thinks it more likely that it was made on purpose; and the Russians, quite blatantly, p…”